OOCL in service link with Wan Hai

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and Wan Hai Lines are introducing a joint direct service between north China, other Asian ports and the Middle East from July 26.

The OOCL/Wan Hai alliance will use six 1,100-teu (20 ft equivalent unit) vessels on a service which will take 42 days on a round trip.

'At present, the Middle East is served mainly by transshipment,' said Jim Poon, managing director of OOCL (Asia-Pacific). 'However, the market has developed very rapidly and we see that the market will continue to grow and will be in need of a direct service such as the China-Middle East service.' The port rotation will be Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Klang, Dubai, Karachi, Port Klang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dalian.

The service will provide transit time of 22 days from Dalian to the Middle East hub port of Dubai, 21 days from Tianjin, 19 days from Qingdao and 17 days from Shanghai.

OOCL will deploy two vessels and Wan Hai four on the service to meet the increasing demand.

OOCL and Wan Hai plan to make major improvements to the overall logistics chain to and from the Middle East and the sub-continent with the launch of this new service.