HAPAG-LLOYD America has received three awards for high service quality from major clients in the US.

The US company Alcoa, a manufacturer and processors of aluminium, named the Hapag-Lloyd the best global container shipping company among its service providers and honoured it with the Ocean Carrier Award. The judges' criteria were the volume of North American imports and exports and the punctuality of deliveries.

The shipping company also clinched the Excellence Award for 2011 from US chemical company Eastman, which recognised the transportation company as being one of its most valued service providers. The award is part of the Eastman Supplier Excellence Programme (ESEP), and acknowledges Hapag-Lloyd's reliability in offering the company a high quality of service and thereby strengthening its efficiency and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, the glass and chemical manufacturer PPG, also from the US, honoured the container shipping line with its PPG Excellent Supplier Award for outstanding customer service. This makes it the first liner shipping company in the last 20 years to be singled out from all the firm's worldwide suppliers for the PPG Excellent Supplier Award, a statement from the carrier said.

Said Hapag-Lloyd America president Wolfgang Freese: "On behalf of our dedicated staff I am very proud of these achievements which clearly recognise the sound quality of work provided to our valuable customers."