DATE: Thursday, September 18, 1997          TAG: 9709180371

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

SWEDISH SHIPPER SIGNS ON WITH NEWPORT NEWS MARINE TERMINAL

In a little more than a month, another shipping company will begin making calls at the Newport News Marine Terminal, adding to the substantial growth the port of Hampton Roads has experienced in the past couple of years.

Atlanticargo, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based company, will begin sending its container vessels to Newport News on Oct. 31. Container ships will be expected each week after that, according to a spokesman for Strachan Shipping Co., Atlanticargo's U.S.-based agent.

Not yet determined are the types of commercial commodities and the amount of cargo the line will handle through Newport News Marine Terminal, a state-owned facility operated by Virginia International Terminals Inc.

The terminal will be the last port of loading in the United States before the vessels head to Europe, and the first port on the return trip.

Atlanticargo's ships have been calling on U.S. ports in the South Atlantic for more than 20 years, but will add Hampton Roads to accommodate demand, said Frank Johnson, of Strachan Shipping.

``We've been thinking about Norfolk for the last four years, and we just decided to do it,'' said Johnson, who is based in Norfolk. ``We've had enough requests from customers for service that we decided to do it.''

Shipping by containers - truck-sized metal boxes with up to 40 tons of goods - has put the port of Hampton Roads on pace for a record year.

Hampton Roads is the second largest general cargo port on the East Coast, behind New York. KEYWORDS: NEWPORT NEWS MARINE TERMINAL CARGO

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