OOCL to enter U.S. East Coast/India trade by joining IDX
Hong Kong’s OOCL will offer its first direct U.S. East Coast/India service when it joins the weekly India North America Express (IDX) of Emirates Shipping Line, Shipping Corp. of India, and Zim, starting in January.
OOCL is replacing MacAndrews as a vessel operator on the IDX, following the CMA CGM-subsidiary’s decision to rejoin its parent on the rival INDAMEX loop.
The IDX service started in May and deploys eight vessels ranging from 2,500 to 2,600 TEUs capacity. It has a port rotation of New York; Norfolk, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; Barcelona, Spain; Colombo, Sri Lanka; India's Tuticorin, Nhava Sheva, and Mundra; Barcelona; and back to New York.
“We are excited about this new service, which will provide a direct link from India to the U.S. East Coast,” said Stephen Ng, OOCL’s senior vice president, transpacific trade, in a statement. “This is especially important to our garment and apparel customers who are sourcing from India and have always looked to us to enhance our services.”