OOCL to raise Asia-Europe rates, YM to launch SE Asia loop

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Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) said it is implementing a revenue restoration on the Asia-Europe trade lane from November to “continue providing quality and sustainable services.”

Effective November 1, freight rate for westbound traffic from the Far East (excluding Japan) to North Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea will increase by US$975 per 20-foot-equivalent unit (TEU), the Hong Kong-based liner operator said.

Meanwhile, Yang Ming Marine Transport (YM) is kicking off its own Southeast Asia service on September 27, deploying two 1,100-TEU vessels. The service will have a 14-day port rotation, with calls at Laem Chabang, Singapore, Port Klang, Jakarta, and back to Singapore.

Another carrier, Zim Integrated Shipping, is deploying 420 new 20-foot open-top containers to its fleet to increase its open-top capacity by about 20 percent.

The addition of the special containers aims to ensure there is enough special equipment available to customers, as well as to keep a low average age of the container fleet, said the Israeli shipping line in a recent written release.

Open-top containers are suitable for tall or large cargo, such as machinery, sheet glass, and building materials, that cannot be loaded through the container doors.

Zim operates nearly 600,000 TEUs of containers of various types, with a significant portion of them special containers.