Grand China Shipping, one of the fastest growing ocean carriers in China, made its inaugural call to the Port of Long Beach on April 26th at Total Terminals International’s Pier T shipping facility.

The maiden call of the vessel Red Strength kicked off a weekly service that is expected to import about 140,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) by the end of 2011. Last year, the Port moved more than 6 million TEUs.

“We are excited to welcome our new partner, Grand China Shipping, to the Port of Long Beach,” said Board of Harbor Commissioners Vice President Susan E. Anderson Wise who welcomed the new service, along with other Port officials and city dignitaries. “This new service underscores Long Beach’s strong position as a premier gateway for transpacific trade.”

The Red Strength is one of five 2,700-TEU ships in Grand China Shipping’s Super Pacific Express (SPX) service that will be calling weekly to the Port. SPX’s route includes the Chinese ports of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Ningbo and Shanghai, and then to Long Beach.

The new service marks Grand China Shipping’s first foray into transpacific trade. The three-year-old company is part of Grand China Logistics Holding, which is part of China's fourth largest airline group, HNA Group. Currently, Grand China Shipping operates a fleet of 23 container ships with a total capacity of 37,000 TEUs and is ranked 33rd among the world’s biggest container carriers, the company said.