TCC adds second Chinese port

TCC adds second Chinese port    The Containership Company said Tuesday that ships in its transpacific Great Dragon Service will call Ningbo in addition to Taicang before crossing the Pacific Ocean to Los Angeles.
   “Our customers have repeatedly asked us to expand our no-frills service concept to other Chinese ports,” said Franck Kayser, the company’s chief operating officer.
   TCC has also increased the size of the vessels it is operating. The five ships it employs range in size from 2,890 TEU to 3,158 TEU according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data. When it began its service earlier this year, some of its vessels had a capacity of just 2,600 TEUs.
   The first sailing from Ningbo is scheduled to take place Sept. 10 with the 2,900 TEU-vessel Nanjing Dragon. This service will have a scheduled transit time of 17 days to Los Angeles and provide customers with a no-frills simple port-to-port service.
   'Our customers simply want equipment to be available, and then have it moved from A to B. This is what we are providing them from Taicang, and this is what we will provide from Ningbo,' Kayser said.
   TCC is “still looking closely into the options for a second transpacific string — as well as potential other services complementing the existing service. There is no doubt that TCC will be expanding the number of services over time, however any new services need to be driven directly by our customers' demand combined with our ability to provide them a service no one else is offering,” said Lars Jensen, director of marketing and IT.
   “We cannot at this point be specific as to which service TCC will launch next, as presently several opportunities are in play with details being analyzed and weighed together with the feedback we have from our customers,” he added. ' Chris Dupin