Yantian call gives Maersk a China first
MARITIME history was made this week when Maersk Line became the first non-Chinese shipping line to operate a direct mainline service from China to Europe.
The 2,466-TEU Maersk Algeciras sailed out of the southern Chinese port of Yantian on Wednesday for loading in Hong Kong and other ports on the way to Europe.
The vessel is deployed on Maersk Line's fourth string on the Far East-Europe service, on a 56-day, round-trip voyage by eight vessels.
Maersk will provide the service under a slot charter arrangement with P&O Containers, which will deploy two vessels on the route.
Port rotation will be Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, Jeddah, Suez Canal, Malta, Algeciras, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Southampton, Algeciras, Malta, Suez Canal, Singapore, Yantian.
As the first user of Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), Maersk will link southern China's only deep-water port with its global liner network through two weekly calls, one to the US.
On July 25, Luna Maersk will make the maiden call at Yantian on the sixth string, one of Maersk Line's weekly transPacific services, offering the first direct link by a leading non-Chinese line to the US.
Port rotation will be Yantian, Long Beach, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yantian, with an 11-day transit time from Yantian to Long Beach - the fastest in the trade - according to company officials.
Maersk is promoting its Yantian service under the slogan Yantian - The Direct Choice, and according to Henrik Zeuthen, managing director of Maersk Hong Kong, it offers substantial savings on trucking costs to Hong Kong across the congested border.
''We are offering our customers the convenience of moving their export point nearer to their production facilities, thereby providing more production time,'' said Mr Zeuthen.
''Our customers will also make considerable savings in trucking costs because they no longer have to move their goods across the congested border to Hong Kong,'' he said.
Maersk affiliate A.P. Moller Finance also has taken a 10 per cent stake in YICT.
Being the first user and part-owner of YICT, Maersk enjoys priority use of berths and cranes, as it does at Modern Terminals in Hong Kong.
''We are not abandoning Hong Kong with our move to Yantian,'' Mr Zeuthen said.
''Hong Kong is, and will continue to be, our primary port for South China and Hong Kong for many years to come.'' Maersk affiliate Mercantile already is providing a range of trucking, consolidation and warehousing services at Yantian.
The port is the only deepwater port in southern China capable of handling the largest of container ships.
The port has a quayside water depth of 14 metres and an unobstructed navigation channel with water depths of up to 20 metres.
YICT, managed by Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT), is to be developed in three phases.
First phase development, already in operation, has two 50,000-tonne container berths, equipped with three 40-tonne gantry cranes.
