New independent liner service connects Southeast Asia with Indian subcontinent

Shanghai-based shipping company Min Sheng Lines says it has ambitions for additional services as well.    Min Sheng Lines, a Shanghai-headquartered shipping company, has launched an independent liner service connecting Southeast Asia with the Indian Subcontinent.
   The first sailing of the carrier’s SABE service, the 1,452-TEU Irrawaddy Star, departed Laem Chabang on May 19.
   The weekly service will use four ships calling in the following rotation: Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Port Kelang, Yangon, Chittagong, Haldia, Chittagong, Port Kelang, Singapore, and Bangkok.
   The company said the call in Yangon, also known as Rangoon, emphasizes the emergence of Myanmar as a growing manufacturing center.
   Igal Dafni, a former executive at ZIM and CEO of Gold Star Lines and CNC Lines, assisted in setting up the new intra-Asian service. With over 20 years of experience in Asia with established regional carriers, Dafni says he is keen to build on the growing commercial relationships between companies in Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
   Min Sheng already operates barge services along the Yangtze River as well as services connecting China with Japan and Taiwan.
   In addition to the new SABE service, Min Sheng Lines plans to launch a second service from South East Asia to the West Coast of India and the Middle East in the near future.