MOL adds Asia calls to South America service

MOL adds Asia calls to South America service    Japanese carrier MOL said Thursday it is adding five calls in the Far East to its CSW service connecting Asia to the East Coast of South America.
   MOL will add calls at Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Busan and Shanghai, with only Hong Kong and Singapore already served by the loop.
   The service sails around the southern tip of Africa in both directions, stopping at South African ports both ways. According to the new rotation given by MOL, it appears the eastbound leg back to Asia will also change a call at Port Elizabeth to South Africa's newest container terminal, Ngqura.
   The revised port rotation is Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Durban, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Sao Francisco Do Sul, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Ngqura, Singapore, Hong Kong and Xingang.
   MOL operates the service outside of the New World Alliance and has no slot charter arrangements with other lines, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data. The changes come into effect March 25.
   'This change is in line with MOL's strategy of expanding one of its core trade lanes,' T.K. Konishi, general manager of MOL's liner division, said in a statement. 'Not only our customers in East Coast South America trade lanes, but also in Europe, North America as well as intra-Asia trade lanes, will benefit from the transport to and from these ports, which have growth potential, by our faster transit and punctual service via CSW.'
   The service operates with nine MOL ships averaging 4,136 TEUs each, with a round trip of 63 days. The carrier did not specify any changes to its deployment, but if five ports are added to the rotation, MOL will likely add more ships to the service if it is to keep a weekly frequency.