Three-line partnership on F-E route brings on bigger vessels

SHIPPING LINES Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, (“K” Line), MISC and PIL will upgrade their current Asia South Africa service later this month. The lines will bring on larger vessels with extended port coverage to include China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka in its revised rotation. Seven containerships of 3300 - 3800TEU capacity will be deployed on the service, with “K” Line and MISC each contributing three vessels and PIL one. The fleet realignment will be completed around June. With a round-trip voyage of 9 days, the service's port rotation will be: Shanghai – Ningbo – Kaohsiung - Shekou - Hong Kong – Singapore – Port Kelang – Colombo - Durban – Cape Town – Colombo - Port Kelang – Singapore - Hong Kong – Shanghai. The Colombo call on both eastbound and westbound legs connects to the high growth markets in the Indian sub-continent as well as those of the Middle East. According to Janet Henwood, commercial executive at Freightmarine Shipping, the SA agents for ‘K’ Line, the upgrade will make it a significant player in this fast-growing sea trade with an almost three-fold increase in capacity and six new ports as direct calls. “The current service operates with five vessels of 1 300-TEU capacity,” Henwood told FTW, “and only has direct calls at Durban, Cape Town, Singapore and Port Kelang – hubbing through the latter two ports to and from the rest of Asia.”