The Port of Virginia said that for the second time this year it has become the last outbound port of call on the East Coast for a liner service.
Being the last destination point is desirable for ports because they can capture business from exporters in a broader region who may delay booking cargo at their local port to avoid the extra transit time while vessels make other stops along the seaboard.
The CKYH Green Alliance has adjusted the schedule for its AWE-2 all-water service between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, moving Virginia terminals in Norfolk and Portsmouth to the final outbound position. Vessels from the CKYH Alliance - composed of COSCO, "K" Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping -- have regularly stopped at the Port of Virginia for years.
The AWE-2 is operated with nine 4,500 TEU vessels with a current rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yokohama, Savannah, Norfolk, New York, and Boston. COSCO vessels also make calls in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, and Cristobal, Panama.
According to ComPair Data, the CKYH alliance will drop Savannah and move Norfolk to the last spot, effective in mid-May. The new rotation will be: Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yokohama, New York, Boston, Norfolk and back to Qingdao, China. COSCO is also dropping its Cristobal call.
Norfolk and Savannah are fierce rivals for cargo in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
"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,” Port Authority Director Jerry A. Bridges said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Mediterranean Shipping Co. reconfigured its Golden Gate service via the Suez Canal to loop back to Norfolk a second time to collect outbound cargo in a central location before heading to the Middle East and Asia.
The Port of Virginia has recently gained extra attention from ocean carriers after CSX Transportation gained direct rail access to the APM Terminals facility several months ago, making intermodal transfers for containers on the CSX network easier.
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