WAN HAI INTRODUCES NEW SERVICE IN TRANSPACIFIC

WAN HAI INTRODUCES NEW SERVICE IN TRANSPACIFIC    Taiwanese carrier Wan Hai Lines will launch a transpacific service in early June, introducing its own ships in the trade for the first time after a year of chartering space from other carriers.
   The new weekly service will employ five vessels of 1,600-TEU capacity, thereby adding over 80,000 TEUs a year in one-way capacity to the transpacific trade. The service will have an eastbound rotation of Yantian, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung or Keelung, Los Angeles and Oakland.
   The service will replace current slot-charter arrangements made by the Taiwanese carrier, using the MEX-TPX ships of CMA CGM and the TP2 and TP5 services of Maersk Sealand.
   The launch of the service coincides with the start of the peak season in the Asia-to-North America trade.