APL partnership enhances China-Australia coverage
APL is set to enhance its coverage of the fast-growing trade between China and Australia with the launch of a new weekly service in partnership with ocean carriers Cosco and PIL.The China Australia Service (CAS) will offer customers highly competitive transit times and direct connections between major destinations in both countries.
For example, the CAS offers direct calls at Qingdao, which is a major hub in the Bohai Bay area, as well as the Yangtze River Delta gateways of Ningbo and Shanghai. Furthermore, the service also covers the primary Australian east coast destinations of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
“China’s growth continues to exceed expectations and its trade with Australia is becoming increasingly important,” said APL Greater China president, Dan Ryan. “Calls at Qingdao and Ningbo provide fast access to all key Chinese production and sourcing locations. Also, our efficient relay service provides the CAS with reach to other core Asian markets such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan as well as the Americas.”
The service, which is due to begin operations today, will deploy five ships each between 2,900-2,950 TEU capacity on a weekly loop. These vessels will have significant refrigerated and climate-controlled cargo handling capabilities.
Northbound benchmark transit times include Sydney to Chiwan in twenty days and Brisbane to Ningbo in just fifteen days. In the other direction, Chiwan to Brisbane takes seventeen days and Hong Kong to Melbourne transit time is twelve days.
