Date: Thursday, March 31, 2005

Re:	PANAMA CANAL TRANSIT FEE

Dear NASA Member:

Received the following from Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement (TACA):

Effective May 1, 2005, the Panama Canal Authority is comprehensively changing the basis on which it assesses fees for container vessels transiting the Canal. The resulting higher costs require TACA Parties to revise the Panama Canal Transit Fee, currently published in the Conference’s relevant Tariffs, Eastbound and Westbound, from $115 per container to $165 per container, effective May 1, 2005.

The Canal Authority has also announced that following this fee restructuring, the new assessment basis will be further increased in May 2006 and May 2007. In due course, this action will also be required to be reflected in TACA’s Tariffs and relevant announcements will be made on a timely basis.

The Parties to TACA are:

Atlantic Container LineAB
Hapag Lloyd Container Linie GmbH
Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA
A P Moller-Maersk Sealand
Nippon Yusen Kaisha
Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd
P&O Nedlloyd Ltd

Best regards,

North American Shippers Association (NASA)
Joan Barrett
NASA Administrator