Tokyo Senpaku Kaisha, part of Japanese carrier NYK Line, ended a vessel sharing agreement with Orient Overseas Container Line and Cosco Container Line covering the Middle East Express Service.
Starting April 18, OOCL and COSCON will jointly operate the fixed-day weekly MEX under a revised VSA, with additional port coverage on the Far East-Middle East trade lane.
The revived MEX will deploy six vessels of 5,500 20-foot equivalent units capacity, with the two carriers phasing in three vessels each.
The new rotation will be Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Bandar Abbas, Singapore, Port Kelang, Hong Kong, and back to Shanghai.
The upgraded schedule provides a transit time of eight days from Bandar Abbas to Port Kelang.
The original MEX, launched in May 2009, operated with six 7,500-TEU vessels, calling Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
The Journal of Commerce Online
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