COSCO STARTS GENOA-NEW YORK SHUTTLE SERVICE

COSCO STARTS GENOA-NEW YORK SHUTTLE SERVICE    The Italian arm of China Ocean Shipping Co. will launch a shuttle container service between Genoa, Italy, and the port of New York at the beginning of June.
   COSCO will use three ships of about 1,600-TEU capacity for this new service. The Chinese carrier aims to provide a weekly frequency.
   The addition of an Italy/U.S. East Coast shuttle operation follows the launch in April of a weekly Mediterranean/U.S. East Coast joint service by COSCO, Yangming Marine Transport and “K” Line. The joint service employs four ships of about 1,900-TEU and has a rotation of New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Genoa, Naples, Barcelona, New York, Norfolk and Charleston.
   A spokesman for Genoa-based COSCOS, the Italian arm of the group, said that COSCO will be the first carrier to run a two-port shuttle service in the Mediterranean/U.S. trade. “It will be something different,” he said.