Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | May 14, 2012 12:56PM EDT
The Port of Virginia will gain a “first-in” vessel call in June when MOL will begin making weekly calls at Norfolk International Terminals with its new all-water service between the Far East and the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal.
MOL and Evergreen will jointly operate the new SVS (South China/Vietnam-the U.S. Southeast Coast) service. MOL will provide nine ships and Evergreen Line, one, with a capacity range of 4,500 to 5,600 20-foot equivalent units.
“This is, to say the least, both exciting and important for Virginia,” said Jerry A. Bridges, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “A first-in is of great benefit to our large import customers, because they’ll be getting their goods to their shelves quicker.”
The port rotation of the SVS service will be: Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Suez Canal transit, Algeciras, Norfolk, Savannah, Jacksonville, Charleston, Cai Mep and back to Hong Kong. The service will start June 2 with the sailing of the MOL Partner from Hong Kong.
The announcement of the new MOL call comes on top of two other moves earlier this year by carriers that made Virginia the last call on the return legs of their all-water services to Asia.
In April, Virginia gained a last-out port call when the CKYH alliance upgraded its AWE-2 service between the Far East and the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.
In February, Mediterranean Shipping Co. made Virginia the last port of call on the company’s Golden Gate Service, which links the U.S. East Coast and the Far East via the Suez Canal.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
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