China Shipping to solo on all-water service

China Shipping to solo on all-water service

   China Shipping Container Line is doubling its capacity on an all-water service between China and U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.

   The company will deploy eight of its own 4,020-TEU ships in the Asia America East 1 service, and will add a new call in Norfolk. The rotation for the fixed day weekly service is New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Miami, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantian and New York. The vessels will also stop in Manzanillo as they exit and enter the Panama Canal.

   Transit time from Yantian to New York and Miami to Shanghai are both 23 days.

   Joe Alagna, vice president of U.S. sales for China Shipping (North America), said the addition of a call in Norfolk would be attractive to shippers trying to reach distributions in the mid-Atlantic as well as intermodal customers in the Midwest.

   China Shipping’s decision to add four ships to the service and operate it on its own comes on the heels of a move by former partner CMA CGM to realign its services and link with Maersk.