Evergreen, MCC plan Malaysia/Bangla shuttle
Evergreen Line said last week it will begin a vessel sharing arrangement with MCC Transport on a shuttle service between Malaysia and Bangladesh Shuttle.
The new service, dubbed MBS by Evergreen, will start Dec. 16 with a rotation of Tanjung Pelepas, Chittagong and Tanjung Pelepas. Both Evergreen and MCC (the intra-Asia specialist subsidiary line of Maersk Line) will provide one 700-TEU ship for the service.
'Evergreen Line has served transport cargo to and from the Bangladesh area by common feeder at Colombo,' the line said. 'Due to the growing trend of increasing volume in local export and import markets, common feeder services are no longer able to meet capacity demands of customers at cost-effective prices. By launching the MBS service with MCC Transport, Evergreen Line can now ensure both long-haul and regional transshipment capacity, as well as shorter transshipment time.'
According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, MCC operates two other services linking Malaysia and Bangladesh. The two-ship BAN1 loop has a rotation of Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Chittagong and Tanjung Pelepas, and uses 1,100-TEU vessels. The two-ship BAN2 loop has a rotation of Tanjung Pelepas, Chittagong, Port Klang, and Tanjung Pelepas and uses 1,600-TEU vessels.
Evergreen doesn't operate a direct service between the two countries.