Charleston, SC - The Port of Charleston will likely see a boost in business from an upgraded South America service and a relaunched Asia service, both commencing this month.
Charleston will see the return of a weekly all-water service from Asia that was suspended in December due to the market slump. The All Water 5 (AWE-5) service, a joint operation of the CKYH alliance carriers of Cosco, K Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin, will resume on May 21 with Charleston as the last U.S. port outbound. Eight vessels with an average capacity of 4,014 TEU will be deployed on the service. Port coverage includes Xiamen, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai and Pusan. The expected first call in Charleston is in late June.
Hanjin Shipping, K Line and Yang Ming are joining CSAV Norasia to introduce a new service that will provide additional capacity from the east coast of South America to the U.S. East Coast. The SNA (South and North America) service will deploy five ships with average capacity of 2,500 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The SNA service replaces the existing NSA service, which was operated by Hanjin, K Line, Yang Ming and Hyundai Merchant Marine with four 1,800-TEU vessels. The service offers calls in Sao Francisco do Sul, Santos and Salvador, Brazil; Puerto Cabello, Venezuela; and Rio de Janeiro. Charleston is the last U.S. port outbound, offering exporters quick transit times to overseas markets.