CKYH Alliance carriers COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin said Tuesday they are introducing the first direct connection between Vietnam’s new deepwater port near Ho Chi Minh City and the U.S. East Coast.
The connection will come on the alliance’s around-the-world AWE-4 service that links Singapore, Hong Kong and Shenzhen to New York, Norfolk and Halifax. The eight ships in the service are provided by “K” Line and will be 3,850 TEUs in capacity. It transits the Panama Canal from Asia to North America, then via the Suez Canal on the return leg to Singapore.
“The CKYH Alliance believes that this direct service between Vietnam and the U.S. East Coast will enable them to provide customers with higher quality service and easier access to and from Vietnam, a region that is currently enjoying rapid economic growth and development,” the lines said in a statement. “This is the first direct service from Ho Chi Minh City to Norfolk and New York. Also, the transit time is expected to improve remarkably compared to that taken in current transshipment process.”
It’s the fourth major service connecting North America to the new terminal at Cai Mep, the first deepwater container terminal in Vietnam. The terminal is located about 50 miles south of Ho Chi Minh City, a region from which 75 percent of Vietnam’s containerized goods pass through.
The other three direct services now stopping at Cai Mep -- the New World Alliance’s PSX and PS1 services, operated with MOL and APL ships, respectively; and Hanjin’s SJX service, on which its CKYH partners take slots -- all call at U.S. West Coast ports only.
The CKYH Alliance operates a PSX service of its own that does not call at Ho Chi Minh City.
The port rotation on the AWE-4 service will be Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Norfolk, New York, Halifax and Singapore. Transit time from Vietnam will be 27 days to Norfolk and 28 days to New York.
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