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SCMP Reporter

Six months after opening a linehaul service at Laem Chabang, Sea-Land has seen a huge jump in weekly outbound cargo volume, boosting its Thai operations to new heights.

   'In 1995, we had only a feeder service, and we were constrained in terms of our capacity,' Manny Fernandez, Sea-Land's general manager in Thailand, said.

   He said average weekly outbound volume increased to 700 loads from 530 since the Laem Chabang operation, with back-up feeder service, was launched in February.

   Mr Fernandez said Sea-Land was committed to maintaining a presence in both Laem Chabang and Bangkok, a strategy that some of its competitors did not share.

    'Some major carriers don't have that dual presence,' he said. 'They take an all-or-nothing approach.

   'But 75 per cent of the import-export of Thailand is into or out of Bangkok, so we feel we must have an inland facility where customers can deposit their cargo.

  'Then we can perform the inland transport to Laem Chabang.'     In addition to providing customers with more space for outbound cargo, the company's Laem Chabang call provides direct line-haul service to Taiwan, Japan and the United States. The company also continues to run feeder service between Bangkok and Singapore.

    'Because of the expanding Thai trade with Europe, the most logical relay is Singapore, so we still need that Bangkok-to-Singapore feeder,' Mr Fernandez said.

    Sea-Land has had a long history in Thailand.

    The company was the first to offer containerised ocean services in the country, beginning in 1973.

   With Laem Chabang now part of the service rotation, Sea-Land provides weekly, fixed-day, direct service between major ports in Japan and the US.

   'The start of this line-haul call in Thailand demonstrates Sea-Land's commitment to the Thai market,' Mr Fernandez said.

   'It is one more way to link Thailand to the global marketplace with unparalleled service that benefits the Thai exporter and importer.'    Sea-Land Service, a unit of CSX Corp, of Richmond, Virginia, is a world leader in freight transportation and related trade services.

   Sea-Land operates more than 100 container ships and handles 200,000 containers worldwide.

   It serves more than 120 ports in 80 countries and territories around the world.



Sea-Land sees jump in Thai cargo volume