The CKYHE Alliance, which consists of five major global container shippers, including Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), yesterday announced it would expand cooperation to US trade in the first quarter next year at the soonest.
The alliance has filed an agreement and submitted a formal letter to China’s Ministry of Transport, filed an agreement to cover US trade with the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and informed the EU Commission of the development.
“In US trade, CKYHE will follow the same pattern of cooperation that the alliance members have successfully used in trade between Asia and Europe, as well as the Mediterranean, during the past year,” the alliance said in a statement.
The expanded cooperation will provide the carriers with greater operational flexibility, permitting each of them to better serve their customers and to offer wider port coverage, increased frequency of sailings and stable transit times, the statement said.
After getting approval from regulators, the container shippers will discuss and agree their cooperation with a target implementation date in the spring next year.
Evergreen Marine, the nation’s largest container shipper, in February announced it was joining the alliance in a bid to optimize its service lines from Asia to northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Evergreen chairman Anchor Chang (張正鏞) said the formation of shipping alliances is a good way to help lower costs by sharing ships and raising cargo capacities.
The CKYHE alliance also comprises China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co (中遠集團) of China, Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd — known as the “K” Line — and Hanjin Shipping Co of South Korea.
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