Carriers starting Asia/Middle East/India service

Carriers starting Asia/Middle East/India service Emirates Shipping Line, T.S. Lines and OOCL will start a service connecting ports in the Far East, Middle East and India, effective Feb. 1.
   The service, described by Emirates as Hyper Galex II and OOCL as Asia India Middle East Service 2, will use six ships ranging from 2,500 TEUs to 3,100 TEUs on a rotation of Shanghai, Xingang, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Kelang, Colombo, Dubai, Bandar Abbas, Mundra, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong, and back to Shanghai.
   Dubai-registered Emirates will provide three of the vessels with two coming from Taiwanese carrier T.S. Lines and one ship from Hong Kong-based OOCL.
   According to Emirates, the new service will open up the only direct route from Mundra into Northern China.
   “Hyper Galex II provides maximum direct coverage between North China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East to meet today's surging demand in this rapidly expanding region,” said Vikas Khan, Emirates chairman and chief executive officer.
   For OOCL, the new loop will be its fourth service in the Asia/Middle East trade. “We have seen significant growth in cargo movement in the Subcontinent and Middle East markets,” said Michael Kwok, OOCL's director of Intra-Asia trade. “The introduction of the new Asia Middle East Service is to meet customers’ requirements and their further needs in these fast-growing markets.”
   Details of the new service are available from ComPair Data, American Shipper’s affiliated database for global liner services, at hwww.compairdata.com.