April 24, 2008 Subject : Canada Steamship Lines Expands Fleet Montreal, Qc: Canada Steamship Lines, a division of The CSL Group Inc. (CSL), has entered into an agreement with Fednav Ltd. of Montreal to purchase four of that company’s ocean-going Handysize bulk carriers. The vessels, all sister ships, currently sail as the Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and Lake Superior. The ships each have a summer deadweight capacity of 35,630 tons, and, at 222.48 metres in length and 23.13 metres in width, are full-size Lakers designed for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterway trade. The first of the vessels will be delivered in December 2008, and the balance by December 2009. They will all be re-flagged Canadian, creating approximately 120 new jobs for Canadian seafarers. The Lake Ontario and Lake Superior will be assigned to a new contract recently signed by CSL with Rio Tinto Shipping/QIT-Fer et Titane to transport approximately three million tons of ilmenite ore annually from Havre St-Pierre to Sorel, QC beginning in 2010. The other two vessels will be employed in domestic trades. CSL currently operates four bulkers and ten self-unloaders in domestic, Great Lakes-Seaway trades. This purchase brings the bulker fleet to eight vessels with an overall trip carrying capacity of 275,000 tons, and reinforces CSL’s 2001 strategic decision to significantly grow its bulker fleet. These vessels are used to service CSL’s customers in the grain, steel, utilities and construction industries. Based in Montreal, The CSL Group is a leader in dry bulk cargo handling. Through its division in Canada, CSL, and its companies in the United States, CSL International and Australia, CSL Australia, The Group delivers more than 70 million tons of dry bulk cargo annually to domestic and international customers in key industries. The Group operates the largest fleet of self-unloading ships in the world, and is also a leading developer of transshipment systems and other cargo-handling technology. For more information:
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