APL, OOCL expanding Indian/Singapore shuttle to North China

APL, OOCL expanding Indian/Singapore shuttle to North China APL and OOCL are expanding their joint shuttle service between Nhava Sheva in India and Singapore to include calls in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Mainland China.
   The new China India Express (CIX) will use five ships of 2,000 TEUs to 2,500 TEUs, of which APL will provide three ships and two will come from OOCL.
   The existing joint shuttle service being replaced is marketed by APL as Singapore Subcontinent 2 (SS2) and Nhava Sheva Shuttle Service (NSS) by OOCL. The CIX will commence in mid-May when it makes its first calls to the North Chinese ports of Xingang, Dalian and Qingdao.
   The full port rotation of the CIX will be Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Xingang.
   “The new CIX service has been provided as a response to the robust growth and customer demand in container traffic between China and India,” OOCL said in a statement.
   Ron Widdows, APL’s chief executive officer, said: “Markets such as India and China are getting more sophisticated as customers realize the need to have consistently high quality shipping services. These customers are becoming increasingly concerned about the opportunity costs of missed shipments, stock outs and late deliveries.”