Feeling bullish about market conditions, Taiwanese intra-Asia shipping specialist TS Lines is increasing capacity on new and existing services.
TS Lines will operate the China India West Coast X-Press (CWX) service with Korea Marine Transport Company (KMTC) and Singapore’s X-Press Feeders.
Beginning 26 October, six ships will operate the CWX service with capacities ranging from 4,200 to 5,000TEU, with X-Press Feeders deploying four ships and KMTC and TS Lines each contributing one vessel.
The service loop is Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Nhava Sheva, Karachi, Mundra, Colombo, Port Klang and Hong Kong. CWX integrates X-Press Feeders’ current AIS, CIX, CIX2 and IFX India routes, with a total of five routes from East and West India to Asia.
TS Lines general manager Tu Honglin said although India has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for consumer goods remains high there, due to the large market.
Additionally, TS Lines will upgrade its China-Australia-Taiwan (CAT) service from 16 October, replacing the current 4,200TEU vessel with a 5,000TEU ship. The weekly service calls at Ningbo, Shanghai, Shekou, Kaohsiung, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Kaohsiung.
Tu stated that it is now peak season for Australia-bound container shipments as retailers there stock up for Christmas, and TS Lines anticipates better cargo volumes, despite the pandemic.
Separately, Tu revealed that in September, TS Lines purchased another second-hand ship, the 2007-built TS Manila (ex-Port Adelaide), from Japanese tonnage provider Osaka Asahi Kaiun. TS Lines has been expanding its owned fleet with newbuilding orders and second-hand purchases in order to lower chartering costs.
Bought for US$6 million, the 1,900TEU TS Manila has been refurbished and will be deployed on the North China-Ho Chi Minh service, calling at Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shekou, Ho Chi Minh and Hong Kong.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
