Lykes, NYK, and OOCL launch Vancouver service

VANCOUVER (May 28, 2001) — Orient Overseas Container Lines, NYK Line, and Lykes Lines confirmed that they will use Vancouver, British Columbia, as their first port of call on the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast for some services.

Canadian Pacific Railway will carry containers from the three lines from Vancouver to Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S. Midwest. The three new contracts is expected to double the railroad’s trans-Pacific container volume into the Midwest.

NYK and OOCL will combine Midwest-bound containers on one ship making weekly calls at Deltaport, Vancouver’s four-year-old container terminal. They will then be carried by CP’s double-stack trains through Canada to Chicago.

Andrew Lumley, an OOCL vice president in San Ramon, Calif., said the change would reduce the amount of Midwest-bound cargo moving through Seattle and subsequently on U.S. railroads. However, he added that Seattle would continue to be a gateway.