Start-up Hainan POS adds fifth ship to transpacific loop

START-UP Hainan PO Shipping has expanded the capacity of its new Central China-America West Coast Express service (CAE) to south China through the addition of a fifth ship.

State-owned Hainan PO first planned to make port of calls at only Ningbo, Shanghai and Long Beach, using four 2,800- to 3,500-TEU vessels.


The addition of a fifth ship to the service that will deploy two owned ships and three chartered vessels will enable the service to stop at ports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Yantian while maintaining an eastbound service speed of 20.5 knots, reports Alphaliner.


An extra ship, the Suzhou Dragon, has already been temporarily added to the service to ply the trade for two months until October. Its deployment currently allows the carrier to offer one extra sailing during the peak season, with some CAE sailings also adding ad hoc calls at Nansha during this period.