American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data on Tuesday confirmed the start of a PIL-Wan Hai ocean service connecting the Far East and Black Sea, a service first reported by maritime news outlets last week.
The service, dubbed SBS by PIL and RBS by Wan Hai, will be operated with eight vessels with an average capacity of 2,818 TEUs, with both lines providing vessels. The rotation is Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Port Said, Alexandria, Istanbul, Odessa, Alexandria, Port Klang, Singapore and Shanghai.
The two lines jointly operate another loop in the Asia/Europe trade -- the nine-ship FES, which has a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Rotterdam Hamburg, Antwerp, Port Klang, Singapore, Shekou and Shanghai. PIL provides five ships and Wan Hai four on the FES, with an average capacity of 4,251 TEUs.
They also both provide one vessel on a China Shipping-led Asia/Black Sea service, the eight-ship ABX loop, which has a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Damietta, Istanbul, Constanta, Ilyichevsk, Damietta and Shanghai. "K" Line and Yang Ming also provide one vessel each on the service, with China Shipping providing the other four.
Both PIL and Wan Hai lie on the cusp of the world's top 20 lines (PIL is 19th largest and Wan Hai 21st) and both have increasingly focused on intra-Asia trade and other growing niche trades from Asia.