Jakarta, 25th July 2000 - Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) welcomed global shipping giant P&O Nedlloyd's "M.V Texas" , the largest ship ever to berth at Indonesia's premier container terminal on 19th July 2000.

The 47,342 dwt "M.V Texas" measures 289.6m long, 32.3m wide and has a capacity of 3,052 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). The vessel joins 7 other vessels from the 4 other partners in the Grand Alliance, namely Hapag-Lloyd, Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC), Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line (NYK), and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL). The Grand Alliance is the world's largest shipping alliance and recently started a new direct service between Indonesia's premier container terminal and North Europe on July 7th. The arrival of the "M.V Texas" is the third call of this service to date.

The "M.V Texas" and its sister vessels serve the the ports of Southampton (United Kingdom), Rotterdam (Holland) , Hamburg (Germany) and La Spezia (Italy). The new direct service offers major benefits to Indonesian importers and exporters : transhipment at a third port to reach a European destination is no longer required. As direct shipping links between JICT and other Indonesia ports develop, these benefits are extended to cargo owners using other ports in Indonesia, who can tranship their cargoes at JICT onto this service, instead of via foreign ports.

Mr Albrecht Meeusen of P&O Nedlloyd was present for the arrival of the "M.V Texas" and highlighted the significance of these first direct calls.

" As a member of the Grand Alliance, P&O Nedlloyd is proud to be one of the first lines to offer direct calls from JICT to North Europe.

For sure, the outlook for the Indonesian shipping market is positive and we look to JICT to build on the progress of the past year and continue the plan to develop the terminal into a world class hub port for Indonesia ?a goal that is not only to the benefit of shipping lines and port users but also to the Indonesian economy."

Note to Editors:

Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) is Indonesia's largest container terminal and is jointly owned by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and P.T Pelabuhan Indonesia II. HPH is an independent port investor, developer and operator with operations in 18 ports in Asia, Europe and the Americas.