Evergreen/Hanjin start new intraAsia service

   Evergreen and Hanjin Shipping will start a new weekly service linking Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.
   The “New Ho Chi Minh Service” (NHS) will employ four ships, each with a 2,500-TEU capacity. One will be supplied by Evergreen and the other three by Hanjin.
   The service will have the following port rotation: Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Shekou, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Port Kelang, Penang, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Kwangyang. The first vessel on the NHS is planned to sail from Kwangyang on November 22.
   Evergreen said the NHS is in line with its goal of providing even better service to Southeast Asia.
   The region has “some of the highest forecast growth rates of any region of the world. In 2013, the ASEAN economy looks set to grow by 5 percent and next year’s estimate is 5.4 percent,” Evergreen added, citing the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report. It also said it believes establishment of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may  further drive cargo demand in the Intra-Asia trades. Negotiations to establish RCEP were initiated this year between ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.