TCC ties up China terminal agreements

TCC ties up China terminal agreements

Kayser

   The Containership Co. (TCC), a startup container line based in Norway, said Friday it has entered into a long-term contract with Chinese terminal operator Modern Terminals at Modern Terminals' facilities in Taicang and Da Chan Bay.
   TCC will launch its first service from Taicang, a city 30 miles up the Yangtze River from Shanghai, on April 17, offering a no-frills shuttle between the Chinese city and Los Angeles. The service, dubbed Great Dragon, is to use five vessels in the 2,500- to 3,000-TEU range.
   Da Chan Bay, part of the port of Shenzhen in south China, is planned to be used for a future service, TCC Chief Operating Officer Franck Kayser told American Shipper Friday. In an earlier interview, Kayser said TCC plans to start an Asia/Europe service later in 2010. Recently, TCC said it had signed an agreement with the TraPac terminal in Los Angeles for the Great Dragon.
   In the e-mail to American Shipper Friday, Kayser also responded to a question raised by maritime media outlets this week that TCC was having trouble finding appropriate-sized ships to charter for its transpacific service.
   'Finding ships to charter is not the problem,' he said. 'The challenge is to find ships where the fit and the rate match. A number of owners have great difficulties in deciding what they wish to do — to take an offer for (time charter) or keep their vessels idle waiting for a miracle. On a positive note then, this is just a fragment of the market and the majority have a quite realistic view on the present situation and the need for deployment.'
   You can read more about the launch of TCC's new service and other new loops entering the transpacific trade this year in the April issue of American Shipper (the PDF will be available Tuesday. ' Eric Johnson