Horizon buys thousands of boxes for December transpac service

US JONES Act carrier Horizon Lines has purchased thousands of containers for the transpacific service scheduled to be launched in December.

The new 11-day port-to-port Five Star Express service to call at Shanghai and Ningbo and then Los Angles and Oakland starts December 13 will deploy five 2,824-TEU ships.


Horizon, of Charlotte, North Carolina, saw a promising Chinese market ahead, and said more than 45 per cent of capacity for its transpacific debut had already been booked, according to London`s International Freighting Weekly.


"US importers are diversifying their ocean shipping contracts to adjust to ongoing capacity fluctuations in the transpacific. We have engaged with our customers to capitalise on these opportunities," said Horizon vice president Brian Taylor.


Said Horizon chairman, president and CEO Chuck Raymond: "A summer slowdown in the pace of US economic recovery had pressured volumes across all of Horizon`s markets. We had anticipated a firmer overall economic recovery in the third quarter. However, after some inventory rebuilding, economic activity slowed."