A consortium of Hapag-Lloyd, United Arab Shipping Company, Hyundai Merchant Marine and China Shipping Container Lines will launch a container service between Southeast Asia and Australia, starting in September.
The new service, called the Asia-Australia Container Service 1 (AAC1), will operate with four vessels of 2,000 to 2,300 20-foot equivalent units capacity, to be contributed equally by the four consortium partners.
The AAC1 rotation will be Port Kelang, Singapore, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Jakarta and back to Port Kelang.
The first vessel sailing is scheduled for the first half of September, departing from Port Kelang.
The trade moving to and from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East region is expected to benefit from the new service through relay options at Southeast Asian ports.
In other news, UASC said it will apply a peak-season surcharge on the trades from Asia to the Western Mediterranean and the Adriatic. Effective July 15, the planned surcharge will be $300 per TEU for both dry and reefer cargo.
The Journal of Commerce Online