PIL joins CP Ships’ Asia/Canada link

PIL joins CP Ships’ Asia/Canada link    Singapore-based Pacific International Lines has started a second transpacific service by joining CP Ships’ Asia/Canada weekly container service.
   PIL joined the service when the vessel “Lykes Voyager” departed from Tokyo March 27. The carrier will market the service as the “Canada Express” link.
   CP Ships-owned Lykes Lines already markets it as the “Pacific Sprint Loop 3,” while Canada Maritime calls it “Pacific Gateway Route 1.”
   The service uses five ships averaging 2,074 TEUs and calls Vancouver, B.C.; Qingdao; Hong Kong; Yantian; Yokohama; and back to Vancouver.
   The latest new entrant in the growing transpacific container trade, PIL joined the trade in January by taking space on the Asia/Canada leg of its joint Middle East/Indian subcontinent/Far East/Canada West Coast service with Lykes. Previously, PIL had taken space only between ports in Asia and the Middle East on this multitrade service, while Lykes used the service to move transpacific cargoes.