Hamburg Süd subsidiary Alianca christened its container ship Pedro Alvares Cabral during a ceremony held for customers at the port of Itapoá. The ship's Sponsor is Elisabeth von Krüger de Freitas, the wife of Humberto Ramos de Freitas, Executive Officer for Logistics and Mineral Exploration of Vale S.A., one of the most important clients of Aliança Bulk. Dr. Arnt Vespermann, Member of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd and Julian Thomas, General Manager Region South America East Coast of Hamburg Süd and Aliança, also participated in the ceremonies.

The Pedro Álvares Cabral is one of four identical 3,800 TEU ships by which Aliança is modernising and expanding its cabotage fleet. Her three sister ships were christened during the course of last year at Pecém, Manaus and Santos. The ships not only set new standards as regards capacity in cabotage services, but also in terms of the environment. All ships carry the names of important South American explorers. The Pedro Álvares Cabral was named after the famous Portuguese mariner who discovered Brazil on 22 April 1500.

The christening of the Pedro Álvares Cabral in Itapoá (in the Federal state of Santa Catarina) allows the shipping carrier to underline how strongly the post is anchored as a hub in the international liner service and the cabotage and Mercosur services. With its terminal in the only deep-water port in southern Brazil, Aliança " together with the Battistella group and LogZ Logistica Brasil have successfully completed an important infrastructure project. Porto Itapoá started operations in mid-2011, has a current handling capacity of 500,000 TEU each year, and employs around 650 staff.