CMA CGM’s intra-Asia arm Cheng Lie Navigation (CNC Line) and Singapore-based feeder operator X-Press Feeders have entered into a mutual slot exchange on their respective South Korea-Japan services, in order to offer better coverage of the route. The arrangement began in early November 2020.
Firstly, CNC Line is buying slots on X-Press Feeders’ weekly Busan-Niigata X-Press (BNX) service, which connects South Korea’s busiest container port, Busan, with the western Japanese ports of Niigata, Toyama-Shinko, Akita and Kanazawa.
The 1,012TEU Unisea is assigned to the BNX service and CNC Line will co-load alongside two other regular users of the service, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Maersk Line’s intra-Asia unit, Sealand Asia.
At Busan, CNC Line can offer transhipment options with its other routes as well as with CMA CGM’s global network.
On its part, X-Press Feeders will buy slots on CNC Line’s Nine Province Feeder (NPF) service, which was launched at the start of 2020.
The NPF service, served by the 704TEU Contship Day, links Busan with four ports on Japan’s southern Kyushu island, Hakata, Shibushi, Hososhima and Oita. X-Press Feeders markets the route as the Busan Kyushu Express (BKX).
Besides the NPF and BNX services, X-Press Feeders buys slots on ONE’s Hokkai Arirang Service (HAS), a shuttle service between Busan and Tomakomai, marketing it as the Busan Tomakomai Express (BTX). With this, the company offers connections between Busan and the western, northern and southern parts of Japan.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
