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Abbie Granger, 209-946-0246

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 11, 2005

Expanding Niche Role As Bulk Cargo Specialist

Stockton, CA, August 11, 2005 –  A location 75 nautical miles due east of San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge hardly seems the ideal location for a seaport.  But that’s exactly where the Port of Stockton was located more than 70 years ago and business has boomed since then – especially with the Far East.  It was 1929 when Congress first approved federal funding to deepen the San Joaquin River to create the Stockton deep-water ship channel – after much lobbying by leaders in California fertile Central Valley. They convinced federal authorities that a port connecting the Central Valley’s rich agricultural region with the rest of the world was vital to the future of Stockton and its neighboring communities.

Indeed, instead of trying to compete with huge container operations – whether at far-off Los Angeles/Long Beach or even at nearby Oakland/San Francisco – Stockton is expanding a niche role as a bulk cargo specialist serving the agriculture and construction industries of the Center Valley and beyond.

Efforts have had a considerable boost by the introduction of Swire Shipping’s new IndoTrans Asia liner service which provides a multipurpose breakbulk and containerized service linking Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea to the Pacific Islands and key ports on the west coast of Canada and the U.S.

The service operates a fleet of three sister vessels – Pacific Adventurer, Pacific Explorer and Pacific Voyage – on a 30-day frequency. “That regular monthly scheduled service will open a lot of doors for the Port of Stockton, adding that it would enable freight forwarders in the region to become more fully acquainted with markets in East Asia and the South Pacific.

All three ships operated by IndoTrans are modern 23,737-dw/t, high-specification multipurpose, geared tweendeckers with an 18.5-knot service speed.  The vessels are designed to carry dry containers, reefers, conventional/breakbulk, heavy-lift and project cargoes.

And all that’s perfect for a port like Stockton which stakes no major claim on the container trade.  Indeed, the near-absence of any container handling facility almost seems to be a point in Stockton’s favor.

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