Port Everglades Department management, from left to right: Director of Trade Development Carlos Buqueras; Port Director Ken Krauter; and Deputy Port Director Gene F. Ciccarelli.

"The Port Everglades Department is very appreciative for MOL's donation of the beautiful ship model MOL Americas. The model was superbly packed and arrived in mint condition.  It is a thing of beauty and we are proud to have it in our possession. The MOL Americas will be displayed in a prominent location in our Administration building where it will be enjoyed by a large number of industry executives and local dignitaries."

	Earth-moving equipment donated by the City of New York for Tsunami relief in Indonesia is staged at the pier at Northeast Auto Marine Terminal pier in New Jersey.

The shipment was loaded at Northeast Auto Marine Terminal (NEAT) in Jersey City, New Jersey. NEAT and the Port Authority of NY and NJ joined MOL in donating their services and waiving all terminal charges for the shipment.

	Left to right: Masami Ishii, Senior Manager of International Sales, MOLAM; Sunny Park, Board Member, Georgia Ports Authority; Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, B.I. Chung, Hanjin Shipping Company; and K.G. Lee, Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Underscoring Georgia's commitment to stimulating international trade throughout the state, Governor Perdue also announced the state's recent acquisition of new distribution centers for Target, Bass Pro Shops, Pirelli Tire North America, and FedEx, as well as a new transmission plant for Honda.

- Reprinted with permission from the Fraser River Port Authority.-

A Vancouver, British Columbia tour operator organized the three-hour race and team building exercise modeled on the popular television program. The 20 meeting participants were split into two primary teams (red and yellow), and each team was further divided into three mini-teams of three or four members. Racers competed for both their primary team and mini-team on a multi-faceted sprint through the streets, buildings, and waterways of downtown Vancouver.

	"The Amazing Race" Participants

Eight checkpoints and many challenges later, every team finished the race exhausted but satisfied. The red team won the primary team competition, while Brian McDonald, Liz McGovern, and Aaron Groves finished first in the mini-team competition. But the real winner in this team-building exercise was camaraderie.  "The Amazing Race" was conceived as a way to build a closer working relationship among the participants, and in this it was very successful. Brian McDonald summarized this aspect of the race when he said, "The Amazing Race was great fun, and all our staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There's nothing like a little competition to bring people together. Hopefully the experiences we shared will result in us being an even more cohesive team in the future."

MOLAM's Dan Claflin accepts the Partnership Award from Schenectady Chemical's Jill Hughes.
Left to right: Christopher Roberts, Director, Global Logistics, Schenectady Chemical;  Wally Graham, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Schenectady Chemical; Dan Claflin, Senior Account Executive, MOL;  Mike Hanrahan, Assistant Vice President of Strategic Sales, MOL; Randall Mallory, Director, Customer Support, Schenectady Chemical; Norma Jean Mitchell, Manager, Transportation and Logistics, Schenectady Chemical; and Jill Hughes, Program Manager, Transportation-Ocean, Schenectady Chemical.

Dan Claflin, Senior Account Executive in MOLAM's Northeast Region, received special kudos from Schenectady Chemical for consistently providing high-quality service for well over 15 years. Most recently, the company noted its appreciation to Dan for mentoring their logistics group during an import program.

The agency meeting was organized by CCRAT and conducted by MOLAM Trade Services VP Frank Masi and Americas Trade Marketing Manager David Blackmer. The goal of the meeting was to define existing or near-future opportunities and proactive approaches to issues that may affect MOL's service and financial performance in the trade. The group discussed coordinated sales strategies aimed at meeting MOL's area business objectives, and focused specifically on the intra-Latin trades, including services to and from Central America, the Caribbean, the Amazon, the East and West Coasts of South America and services and connections to and from North America and Northern Europe. The event was successful in promoting team building and in advancing the cooperation among CCRAT, Americas Area Management and the agencies operating either as MOL subsidiaries or as MOL agents of the countries represented.

In addition to new ACW (Americas Coast West) service, the MOL's Americas service profile includes the CX1 (Caribbean Express), NCA (North Caribbean), GEX (Gulf Express), ACE (Americas Coast East), and the ISA (Intra South America) services.

	MOL Group President Akimitsu Ashida explains the company's aggressive growth plans.
	President Ashida listens to a question from the audience. (Photos by Matthew Simpson)

During the luncheon, President Ashida stressed the importance of growth, and shared the company's aggressive growth plans. The luncheon provided a rare opportunity to meet and ask questions of the president.