OOCL announced their joint services with partners ANL and COSCON under the newly formed Asia Australia Consortium (A3). The A3 products will provide a much more competitive service and comprehensive coverage in the North East Asia / Australia market when compared to current service offerings. The A3 will launch three dedicated services, namely the Northern Express, Central Express and Southern Express, connecting 10 major North East Asia ports with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia. Northern Express – weekly service with following port rotation: Yokohama - Osaka - Busan - Qingdao - Shanghai - Kaohsiung - Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane - Yokohama
  • Direct service to Japan and Korea
  • Fastest transit time in the market from Kaohsiung to Melbourne
Central Express – weekly service with following port rotation: Shanghai – Ningbo – Sydney – Melbourne – Brisbane – Shanghai
  • Fastest transit times in the market from Shanghai and Ningbo to Sydney
Southern Express – weekly service with the following port rotation: Kaohsiung – Xiamen – Shekou – Hong Kong – Sydney – Melbourne – Brisbane – Kaohsiung
  • Fastest transit times in the market from Shekou and Hong Kong to Sydney
Subject to regulatory approval, the A3 plans to launch the new products starting from September or October and further details will be made available in due course.