“K” LINE ANNOUNCES SECOND ASIA/U.S. EAST WEEKLY SERVICE

“K” LINE ANNOUNCES SECOND ASIA/U.S. EAST WEEKLY SERVICE

“K” LINE ANNOUNCES SECOND ASIA/U.S. EAST WEEKLY SERVICE

   “K” Line has announced that it will offer a second all-water Asia/U.S. East Coast container service this month by taking space on the “AWE” Asia/U.S. East Coast loop of its alliance partner Yangming Marine Transport.
   The “AWE” weekly service is operated by Yangming in cooperation with Hanjin Shipping, DSR-Senator and Cho Yang. “K” Line will start providing this service to its customers on April 23.
   The slot agreement will complement the previously-announced launch by “K” Line, Yangming and China Ocean Shipping Co. of the “AEX” Asia/U.S. East Coast weekly service. The “AEX” operation kicks off in Asia on April 24.
   The “AWE” loop employs nine ships of about 4,000-TEU and has a rotation of Keelung; Busan; Kobe; Yokohama/Tokyo; Savannah; Wilmington, N.C.; New York; Busan; Kaohsiung; Hong Kong and Keelung.
   The “AEX” service will utilize nine 3,400-TEU ships with a port rotation of Shanghai; Yantian; Hong Kong; New York; Norfolk; Charleston; Tokyo; Kobe and Shanghai.
   Following the slot agreement on the “AWE” service and the commencement of the “AEX” operation, both “K” Line and Yangming will now provide two weekly all-water services between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, while COSCO will have one weekly all-water service.
   Details on the transit times and days of the week of departure and arrival of the services are posted on the global sailing schedules database ComPairSchedules at www.compairschedules.com.
   “K” Line’s return to the all-water East Coast route is part of a revival of direct all-water services among containership operators. China Shipping group, CMA CGM and P&O Nedlloyd have also announced the launch this month of    joint, weekly Asia/U.S. East Coast via Panama service.