Shipping links speed up as Taiwan relaxes cross-strait rules

Shipping links speed up as Taiwan relaxes cross-strait rules    Several container shipping lines have streamlined the itineraries of deep-sea liner services to and from mainland China and Taiwan by taking advantage of the recent relaxation of rules on shipping across the Taiwan strait by the Taiwanese authorities.
   Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport said Friday it has revised the rotation of two of its services and eliminated intermediate port calls between mainland and Taiwanese ports.
   Previous rules required ships to call at an intermediate port in a third Asian location — usually Hong Kong or Ishigaki island — between ports calls on both sides of the Taiwan strait. In February, the Taiwanese authorities ended this requirement, although vessels are still only allowed to ship international cargoes, not bilateral mainland/Taiwan cargoes. Carriers can now sail direct between mainland ports and the Taiwanese ports of Kaohsiung, Keelung and Taichung, rather than divert their vessels to call at an intermediate port.
   Starting today, Yangming’s transpacific “PSW2” and Asia/Middle East “CGX” services will follow a shorter rotation with direct sailings between ports on both sides of the Taiwan strait. The “PSW2” loop will no longer call twice at Hong Kong, and will have a rotation of Hong Kong, Yantian (mainland China), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Keelung, Los Angeles, Oakland, Keelung, Kaohsiung and Hong Kong. The “CGX” ships will skip the former call at Ishigaki island and follow a rotation of Shanghai and Ningbo (mainland China), Keelung (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Kelang, Dubai, Bandar Abbas, Karachi, Penang, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
   The Taiwanese shipping line Evergreen and Singapore-based APL have reportedly already introduced streamlined cross-strait international services without intermediate calls.
   Mainland China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, continues to apply shipping restrictions banning the transshipment of mainland cargoes in Taiwan and the direct shipment of import and export bilateral cargoes.