United Arab Shipping Company (UASC),a leading container shipping line and emerging global carrier,has appointed The Ultramar Group as its local liner shipping agency partner in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. This appointment is the latest milestone in UASC's expanding presence in South America and will be instrumental to UASC's growth plans.

Ultramar has a long-standing, successful history in South America providing agency, ports and logistics services in 16 countries and covering all the main ports.UASC's decision to select Ultramar as its local agency partner in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay marks a significant expansion in the relationship between the two companies. This news also follows the November 2014 announcement of UASC's long-term general cooperation agreement with The Hamburg Süd Group, providing UASC's customers with broad access to the East Coast of South America.

Serving all major ports along the Brazilian East Coast and the River Plate, UASC's customers will have access to an enhanced product offering for the South American East Coast. Under the Hamburg Süd cooperation, UASC's services from North Europe to South America East Coast and Mediterranean to South America East Coast will commence in mid-April. The first sailing from Asia to South America East Coast is scheduled for the beginning of July.

Jørn Hinge, President and CEO at UASC, commented: We are delighted to announce the latest landmark on our road to establishing UASC's presence in the South America trades. From our existing relationship with Ultramar we know that we will be working with a trusted and committed partner. Ultramar has an outstanding track record in South America and we are confident that it can support our near and medium-term goals for this marketplace. The East Coast South American markets of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay provide significant opportunity for UASC and its customers. As an emerging global carrier that places customer service at the very heart of our operations, we are continuously exploring enhanced geographical reach and improved products, whilst always safeguarding reliability and service excellence. This development marks the next stage of our evolution in South America and gives a flavor of our longer term aspirations.

This announcement follows news of UASC's growing reefer fleet, which was recently boosted with an order for an additional 2,000 reefer units from Daikin. With an average age of just three years, UASC's reefer fleet is one of the youngest in the industry and this latest order will directly support enhanced access to the South America trades for chilled and frozen cargoes.

UASC'sgrowing presence in South America forms a key element of the company's ambitious expansion strategy. The company's strategic alliances withThe Hamburg Süd Group and also CMA CGM and China Shipping Container Lines (OCEAN3) come into play this year. In addition, by the end of 2015 UASC's fleet will be boosted by the delivery of 11 of the world's largest and most eco-efficient vessels, thanks to its current newbuilding program, which comprises eleven 15,000 TEU vessels and six 18,800 TEU vessels.