Virginia, for years, has been a regular stop for vessels from the CKYH alliance, which is composed Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping. Under the new rotation Virginia will be the last East Coast port call on the AWE-2 service and the vessel size calling Virginia on the AWE-5 service will be increased to 5,500 TEUs.
“The change provides an excellent opportunity to capture time-sensitive export cargo, giving Mid-Atlantic and Midwest-based exporters competitive transit times to North Asia,” said Jerry A. Bridges, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “This decision by CKYH and a move earlier this year by another ocean carrier to make Virginia a last-out call shows that these carriers have confidence in Virginia. Our deep water, terminals, rail connections and customer service all drive these kinds of decisions.”
On April 24, Cosco will join the AWE-5 service, which is currently operated by Hanjin Shipping and Yang Ming. At the end of April, the port rotations of the five all-water services will be as follows:
• AWE-1: Consists of nine 4,000-TEU vessels that will call Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan, New York, Wilmington (N.C.), Savannah, Pusan and back to Qingdao.
• AWE-2: Consists of nine 4,500-TEU ships that will call Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yokohama, New York, Boston, Norfolk and back to Qingdao.
• AWE-3: Will deploy 4,250-TEU vessels and will call Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Pusan, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington (NC) and back to Hong Kong.
• AWE-4: Consists of 5,500-TEU ships that will call Ho Chi Minh City, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Savannah, Singapore and back to Ho Chi Minh City.
• AWE-5: Will upgrade to nine 5,500-TEU vessels and call Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, New York, Norfolk, Boston, Singapore and back to Kaohsiung.
