Hanjin starts direct Vietnam/North Europe link

Hanjin starts direct Vietnam/North Europe link    Hanjin Shipping said Thursday it will provide the first direct call between South Vietnam's deepwater port complex and Northern Europe.
   The call, which will connect Vietnam's Cai Mep-Vung Tau port complex to Northern Europe's major ports, will be added to Hanjin's existing NE5 service starting Oct. 18.
   The carrier's claim of being the first to connect the new deepwater port to Northern Europe is backed up by information from American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
   According to ComPair Data, only two services link Cai Mep directly with Europe, and both (the Grand Alliance's AEX service and Maersk Line's TP6/AE6 pendulum service) call only Mediterranean ports.
   The revised NE5 service will have a rotation of Gwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Yantian, Vung Tau, Singapore, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Algeciras, Singapore, Kaohsiung and Gwangyang, and will be operated with nine 6,500-TEU vessels, all provided by Hanjin.
   The carrier told American Shipper it will continue to be operated as a standalone service, and not in conjunction with the CKYH Alliance, of which Hanjin is a member. However, ComPair Data lists Hanjin's CKYH partners COSCO Container Lines, 'K' Line and Yang Ming as slot buyers on the service.
   Hanjin said the move will reduce transit times by four days.
   'We will be able to reduce current transit time from Vietnam to North Europe from 23 to 19 days,' the line said in a statement.