ECS WILL LAUNCH SECOND ASIA/EUROPE EXPRESS OCEAN SERVICE IN NOVEMBER

ECS WILL LAUNCH SECOND ASIA/EUROPE EXPRESS OCEAN SERVICE IN NOVEMBER    Express Container Service AG, the new entrant in the Asia/Europe liner trade, will launch a second Asia/Europe “express container service” in November.
   The weekly service will call at Shanghai, a yet-to-be-named port in South China, Trieste and Shanghai again, with a round voyage of 35 days. Five 25-knot vessels will be employed in the service.
   Rainer Voelmle, a partner of Express Container Service, said the carrier will be able to offer two weekly departures from South China and Hong Kong to Europe, after the launch of the second service.
   Express Container Service commenced a weekly Hong Kong/Trieste/Abu Dhabi/Hong Kong express shuttle service in July. The carrier aims to provide transit times from Asia to southern Europe, southern Germany and Austria that are substantially faster than those of other container shipping lines. The Hong Kong/Trieste service achieved transit times from Hong Kong port to Salzburg and Vienna, Austria, of 14 days, the company said.
   The 10 ships operated by Express Container Service were deployed in the transpacific services of Norasia.
   Norasia is expected to announce changes in its fleet deployment and routes in the transpacific trade in the next few days.