Date: Friday, October 15, 2004

Re:	ITALY CONGESTION SURCHARGE

Dear NASA Member:

As has been recently announced in the trade press it is quite evident that there are several congestion surcharges about to be levied on the market with the main one being a $200/teu charge for all cargo destined to LA/Long Beach. This is currently slated to take effect on November 1, 2004.

Additionally we wanted to alert you to the issues affecting traffic out of the Med, particularly out of Italy. The week long truckers strike has severely backlogged bookings and space availability. We currently recommend that if you have pending orders or are about to place orders for shipment to the Med that you add an additional 2 weeks to your lead time.

As these situations continue to develop we will be sure to inform you.

Regards,

Judy Mannix
Administrator