CHINA SHIPPING UPGRADES MED/U.S. AND MED/ASIA LINKS

CHINA SHIPPING UPGRADES MED/U.S. AND MED/ASIA LINKS    Three months after entering the Mediterranean/U.S. container trade, China Shipping Container Lines is raising the frequency of its service from fortnightly to weekly as part of a new Asia/Mediterranean/U.S. East Coast “pendulum” service.
   The first sailing of the revised service, which merges the carrier’s former Asia/Mediterranean weekly servide and its Mediterranean/U.S. fortnightly service, is scheduled today (June 8) in Dalian.
   In addition to the higher frequency, the Mediterranean/U.S. leg of the service now includes direct calls at Savannah.
   The full rotation of the weekly service is Dalian, Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Port Kelang, Piraeus, Naples, Leghorn, Genoa, Fos, Valencia, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Valencia, Genoa, Naples, Piraeus, Port Kelang, Hong Kong and Dalian.
   A spokesman for China Shipping said that the service, named Asia-Mediterranean-U.S. East Coast, will initially employ 13 ships. However, minor changes to the port rotation and fleet are likely in future, he said.
   CMA CGM, a carrier that took space from China Shipping on its Asia/Mediterranean service, said that it will continue to have space on the revised service between Asia and the Mediterranean.
   The revised transit times and capacity details for the service are posted online on the global liner shipping database ComPairData at https://www.compairdata.com .