OOCL AND YANGMING UPGRADE SOUTH JAPAN LINKS

OOCL AND YANGMING UPGRADE SOUTH JAPAN LINKS    In separate moves, Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line and Taiwan’s Yangming Marine Transport have announced an upgrading of their respective intra-Asia container services to and from Kyushu, in the south of Japan.
   In December, OOCL will replace the three 270-TEU vessels currently on its Setouchi/Kyushu -Taiwan/Hong Kong Express STX service with two 350-TEU vessels that offer faster transit times. The company will also add a direct call at Hong Kong, providing a weekly service calling at the ports of Shibushi, Hososhima, Kokura, Shimonoseki, Mizushima, Matsuyama, Hiroshima, Keelung, Kaohsiung and Hong Kong.
   The STX service also connects to OOCL’s international trunk services at Kaohsiung and Hong Kong, giving customers access to North America, Europe and Southern China.
   Yangming introduced a Kyushu to Taiwan and Hong Kong KTX service in the third week of October. The weekly service calls at Shibushi, Oita, Moji, Hakata, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung and Shibushi, and employs two 350-TEU container vessels.
   OOCL said that its shipping service in South Japan helps customers realize “considerable cost savings” because of the high domestic handling costs in Japan.