PORT OF BOSTON CONFORMS START OF DIRECT CONTAINER SERVICE TO ASIA

PORT OF BOSTON CONFORMS START OF DIRECT CONTAINER SERVICE TO ASIA    The Massachusetts Port Authority, the operator of the port of Boston, confirmed that, in January, an all-water container service will start providing the port’s first direct weekly outbound service to Asia.
   The “AUE” service, operated by the global alliance of COSCO Container Lines, “K” Line,Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping, will run the direct service. It will provide direct weekly sailings from Boston to Qingdao, China and make subsequent calls at Yantian and Hong Kong, before returning to the United States.
   The sailing time from Boston to Qingdao will be 24 days. Yantian will be called in 27 days, and Hong Kong in 28 days.
   The addition of a direct westbound service from Boston to Asia is part of a major reshuffle by the CKYH alliance of its transpacific and transatlantic services in January.
   Since March 2000, COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin have provided a direct eastbound service from Asia to Boston.
   “This new Far East service will, for the first time, provide New England exporters with a non-stop link from Boston to Qingdao, and fast service to Yantian and Hong Kong,” said Mike Leone, Massport’s director of the port of Boston.
   Under the revised schedule, the CKYH ships will call ports in Charleston, Norfolk, New York and Boston in the States, and Qingdao, Yantian and Hong Kong in Asia.