Grand Alliance Adds Vietnam Stop

The Grand Alliance ocean container shipping venture will add Vietnam to its Asia-US East Coast Express service next month, joining a rapid buildup of international transportation connections.

According to the US newspaper, Journal of Commerce, Alliance members Hapag-Lloyd, NYK Line and OOCL will add the deepwater port of Cai Mep to an AEX service that runs from Southeast Asia through the Suez Canal to the North American East Coast and back.

Cai Mep Port, just southeast of HCMC, handles 70 percent of Vietnam’s container trade.  It has been drawing calls by the world’s major container lines to handle Vietnam’s surging exports of textiles and apparel since last June, when the port completed the first stage of dredging its main shipping channel down to 39 feet.

The Grand Alliance stop follows Vietnam services added since June by APL, CMA, CGM and the New World Alliance, moves that have sharply expanded Vietnam’s profile in the international shipping trade despite the global economic downturn.

MOL this fall won approval for a new terminal venture in the country and Korean Air recently added 747-400 freighter service to Hanoi.

The three Grand Alliance partners will deploy 10 ships with an average capacity of 5,500 TEU (standard size containers) apiece on the AEX service.

(Source: JOC)

Tags: vietnam logistics, Vietnam transportation