Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) welcomed customers to a cocktail reception at the Sheraton Hotel San Cristobal in Santiago, Chile to introduce their new West Latin Express (WLX) direct service to and from Asia. The event was attended by SC Lee, manager of Emerging trade Hyundai Seoul, in charge of new business for Latin America; David J. Arsenault, CEO and President of HMM America and Richard von Appen, President of Ultramar. The event was held in accordance with the first sailing of Hyundai’s operating vessel into Chile in same week and about 120 customers participated the function with another 20 people from HMM Seoul Headquarters, America Headquarters and Chile. The new service, which began operations on August 15 from Chile, has a new weekly capacity, implying a fairly significant representation in Chile growth. With the implementation of WLX it nearly tripled its previous availability, with berthing in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, and from there, to a range of ports in Asia. Matias Murillo, Chile HMM Line manager, explained that this new offer comes after a deep restructuring of shipping services in Asia, the context in which HMM decided to integrate its capabilities with two new strategic partners. ” This is a service that has 9 ships of around 4,700 TEU on average, where Hyundai brings three of its own ships covering the west coast of South America.” Murillo also said that given the current market conditional, “our strategy is to strengthen the quality of service to our customers, as we see it is the way to make a difference in today’s competitive market. All services are offered to Asia are now very similar in terms of destinations on offer. Therefore, it is essential to have a quick, efficient and first class response to the requirements of our customers and remain very close to them in the daily form.” “This is going to be our big footprint to the west coast of South America”, said SC Lee in his speech during the event. “We’ve been here quite a few years but now we participate in earnest”, he continued, “It is very encouraging to serve valued customers more and better. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of this market for HMM”. David J. Arsenault thanked all of the customers in attendance for their support of this new service and emphasized Hyundai’s commitment to Chile as well as the entire trade. He further commented that, “We want to work closely with each of you to understand your business and support your unique supply chain requirements with our world class service.” In conversation with Mundo Maritimo, he indicated that, “HMM has officially arrived in this vibrant market and has made the jump from being a relatively small player in the past to a significant carrier based on our investment in the much larger capacity that this new WLX service provides.” “HMM fully understands that the shipping industry remains a highly competitive service industry. In order to differentiate ourselves, HMM is committed to forging strong partnerships with each of our customers that are based on service, reliability and trust. It is all about operational excellence in every aspect of our service delivery from our front line sales to the back office booking and documentation,” Arsenault concluded. Meanwhile, Richard von Appen said “HMM is a company with whom we have a relationship for many years and this new service shows the commitment they have with the country and the west coast of South America and a long-term vision, beyond the situation in which the future it is expected that exports and imports on the continent will continue to increase.” Regarding what this new service to overseas represents for HMM in various parts of the continent, von Appen stated “Customers have more choices to help develop foreign trade, I think that’s a positive. For us, everything that favors the competitiveness and allows increased trade volumes to Chile will be welcomed. That is where we want to be in order to facilitate exchange and also be a bridge between importers/Chilean exporters to the rest of the world.” West Latin Express(WLX) details Kaohsiung – Shekou – Ningbo – Shanghai – Busan – Manzanillo – Buenaventura – Callao – Valparaiso – Lirquen –Manzanillo – Busan – Kaohsiung Customer Opinions Katherine Amor, head of department operations Ariztia exports, referring to the service provided by Hyundai she said “I believe this is wonderful! We have been working with Hyundai for a year and half and we are growing. Indeed the service delivery closely conforms to our philosophy and work profile “. She also assessed that “they have a designated team to work with us, with more personalized attention and constant concern for our burdens. They function as a major logistics partner.” Giancarlo Becava, chief sales reefers Senator Chile, said that “when Hyundai started the reefer market, they partnered with us and have supported us for a long-term “. Regarding the new service, he said that “it is very competitive and expect them to be our principle partners.” He also stressed that “They (HMM) are always available in today’s fruit market that you have to work 24 hours, 7 days and fortunately we have that support. In addition, it is a fairly personalized service. “