The Port of Virginia is gaining a last-out port call as a result of the CKYH alliance’s decision to upgrade its all-water services that between Asia and the U.S. East Coast.
The CKYH alliance including Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping will make Norfolk the last East Coast port call on the AWE-2 service. It is also increasing the size of the vessels calling Virginia on the AWE-5 service to 5,500 20-foot equivalent units.
Port executives seek last-out port calls because it helps attract more volume through their terminals. “The change provides an excellent opportunity to capture time-sensitive export cargo, giving Mid-Atlantic and Midwest-based exporters competitive transit times to North Asia,” said Jerry A. Bridges, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.
On April 24, Cosco will join the AWE-5 service, which is currently operated by Hanjin Shipping and Yang Ming. At the end of April, the port rotations of the five all-water services will be:
-AWE-1 consists of nine 4,000-TEU vessels that will call Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan, New York, Wilmington (N.C.), Savannah, Pusan and back to Qingdao.
-AWE-2 consists of nine 4,500-TEU ships that will call Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yokohama, New York, Boston, Norfolk and back to Qingdao.
-AWE-3 will deploy 4,250-TEU vessels and will call Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Pusan, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington (NC) and back to Hong Kong.
-AWE-4 consists of 5,500-TEU ships that will call Ho Chi Minh City, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Savannah, Singapore and back to Ho Chi Minh City.
-AWE-5 will upgrade to nine 5,500-TEU vessels and call Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, New York, Norfolk, Boston, Singapore and back to Kaohsiung.
The Journal of Commerce Online