India-U.S. East Coast service withdrawn

India-U.S. East Coast service withdrawn Four carriers providing service from India to the U.S. East Coast have decided to discontinue the loop, Live Mint reported Sunday.
   The Sina service – operated by Hanjin, 'K' Line, Yang Ming, and United Arab Shipping Co. – will last be offered on Jan. 4.
   'We have discontinued the AEC 1 service and will shut down the Sina service from January due to poor volumes,' S.H. Lee, managing director of Hanjin Shipping India Pvt. Ltd, told the newspaper.
   Declining volumes and poor freight rates (ocean rates from India to the U.S. East Coast had dropped from $2,500 a year ago to $1,200 recently).
   The withdrawal of the service will cut capacity in the trade by about 15 percent, and follows a similar service suspension in March by Zim, Emirates, OOCL and the Shipping Corp. of India.