A group of intra-Asia carriers is launching a joint service that links China, the Straits, Western India and Sri Lanka.
The weekly service will commence in mid-November and will be operated by Interasia Lines of Japan, Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines, Singapore-based Feedertech and South Korea’s Sinokor Merchant Marine (including its subsidiary Heung-A Line).
The service loop is Dalian, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Port Klang, Shekou and Dalian. Six 4,200TEU ships will be allocated to the service, which will have a six-week rotation.
Interasia, which works closely with Wan Hai, will brand the service CI6 and it will complement their existing joint CI2 service that plies the China-Western India route. CI6 will include a call to Dalian as another link to northern China, complementing the Qingdao call on the CI2 service.
Feedertech, which was rebranded in 2018 from the Singapore unit of the Dubai-based Simatech Shipping, and Sinokor, have yet to announce their brandings of the service. The new service will enable Sinokor to provide direct connections between northern China and western India. The South Korean carrier is now offering a service linking China, South Korea, Taiwan, the Straits, western India and Pakistan through purchasing slots on HMM’s CIX service.
The CI6 service coincides with Maersk Line removing its direct connection between Dalian and Nhava Sheva after the Danish carrier restructured its FI3 service.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
