Sinokor launches Manila-Korea service

KOREAN shipping line Sinokor Merchant Marine Co., Ltd. (Sinokor) will launch a weekly service on the Manila-Korea route starting this month.

A joint venture with Dongnama, Heung-A and Hanjin, the Malacca Strait Service (MSS) will service the ports of Manila, Inchon, Kwangyang, Pusan, Keelung, Hong Kong, Port Klang, Medan, Penang, and Singapore.

Edmund S. Co, senior manager for Marketing and Business Development of Fair Shipping & Agency, Inc., the exclusive Philippine agent of Sinokor, said the principal decided to deploy a dedicated vessel to service the route due to improved trade between Manila and Korea in the past two years.

For the period, a 21% growth in trade was experienced. “Sinokor started its service to Manila in 2000.

But the carrier was only buying slots from consortium lines and later decided to halt the service due to the small profit being made on the service,” he explained. “Competition for the service will be exciting especially among Korean vessel operators.

I’m looking forward to a very tight race to the top in capturing the Manila/Korea market this year. Sinokor will be a major contributor to this trade,” he added.

Four vessels will be deployed for the joint operation. Sinokor is committed to booking 300 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per vessel, north and south bound.

Sinokor Seoul will undertake the maiden voyage to Manila commencing on June 24. She will call at the South Harbor.

The vessel has a capacity of 1,608 TEUs and deadweight of 25,868 metric tons. Co said Sinokor is also planning to venture into another joint service with Dongnama, Heung-A and Hanjin.

“The plan is under study and we will reveal the service in due time,” he said.

Sinokor has an established network of services in China and other areas such as Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India.