STX upgrades Korea-Straits KMS loop

   Ocean carrier STX PanOcean will add a fourth vessel to its average 2,700-TEU KMS intra-Asia loop linking South Korea, China and Port Kelang, Malaysia, increasing the roundtrip voyage time to 28 days weekly.
   Additional calls at Shanhai – both northbound and southbound – will be made, but a northbound call at Hong Kong will be dropped.
   X-Press Feeders has joined Heung-A and TS Lines as a slot charterer. The fourth vessel, Northern Vivacity (formerly Sinotrans Tianjin), will enter the loop in Busan on April 8.
   The KMS rotation will then become Busan, Inchon, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Port Kelang, Singapore, Shanghai, and Busan. — ComPair Data, Kim Williams