Member lines in the New World Alliance will next month launch a service between the Far East and the east coast of the United States, increasing capacity on what is fast becoming a popular alternative to the transpacific trade lanes.
Singapore's American President Lines, Japan's Mitsui-OSK and Hyundai Merchant Marine will launch the service on June 8, with the first eastbound sailing from Shanghai.
The service will transit the Panama Canal and offer a 30-day transit time from Shanghai to New York. It will stop at transshipment ports on both ends of the canal - in Manzanillo, Mexico, and Balboa, Panama.
An acute shortage of tonnage on the open charter market may see the carriers start the service with only eight 3,000 20-ft equivalent unit (teu) vessels instead of the customary nine on a fixed-day weekly service.
Alliance sources say the lines have struggled to find suitable vessels for the service, which ultimately will add 150,000 teu of annualised capacity on to the trade.
In China, the service will call at Shanghai, Yantian and Hong Kong, while the service will also cater to markets in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
New York, Norfolk and Savannah, Georgia, will be the calls on the US east coast.
