Evergreen, CSCL join COSCO intra-Asia loop

The ocean carriers’ China-Surabaya Express Service connects ports in China with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.    Ocean carriers Evergreen Line and China Shipping will join a COSCO intra-Asia container service connecting China with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia as vessel operators.
   Evergreen said in a statement the China-Surabaya Express Service (CSX) will now be operated with four ships, two from COSCO and one each from Evergreen and CSCL, with a capacity 2,000 TEUs to 2,700 TEUs.
   Evergreen’s first sailing on the CSX is scheduled to commence May 20 from Qingdao. The port rotation of the loop will remain Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shekou, Pasir Gudang, Singapore, Surabaya, Singapore, and Qingdao.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the three Asian-owned container lines provide vessels or take slots on a total of five dedicated intra-Asia services between China and Southeast Asia. COSCO and CSCL also jointly operate the CSE loop, while COSCO offers its standalone JCV service, as well as the joint KCM2 loop with CMA CGM and KMTC and the joint CTS with CNC Line and Yang Ming.
   Evergreen noted, “After the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) was established in 2010, bilateral trade volumes have continued to rise. According to the statistics published by the Gerneral Administration of Customs in the PRC, its import and export trade with ASEAN grew by 8.3 percent to $480.4 billion in 2014. In addition, the ASEAN community has actively negotiated with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand to establish the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
   “It is believed that this significant development will further encourage free trade and have the effect of driving cargo growth within the intra-Asia trade,” the carrier added.