Sticky port congestion drives intra-Asia freight rates higher
Intra-Asia rates continue to rise year-on-year, as major ports are congested amid the early peak ...
Photo: VesselFinder
By Alison Koo
Taiwanese forwarder and ship manager TVL Marine is re-entering container shipping after a seven-year absence, launching a Hong Kong-Taiwan shuttle service this month.
The company owns five 1,100 teu-1,800 teu ships, all chartered to South Korean liner operator KMTC Line when it ceased its previous shuttle service, between Taiwan and China’s Xiamen port, in 2019.
The TVL group was founded in 1972, when Trans Van Links Express was incorporated in Taiwan, and ventured into ship owning and operations in the 1990s, after acquiring second-hand general cargo ships. But these were sold by the early 2000s and the group moved into air freight.
The 1,100 teu TVL Keelung (previously known as the Sunny Calla), is expected to be deployed on TVL’s new Hong Kong-Taiwan service. SeaSearcher shows the ship arrived in Hong Kong today, after being redelivered from KMTC.
TVL group chairman Lee Chien-fa announced the re-entry into liner shipping during the opening of its Hong Kong office last month, saying the shipping centre and free trade port was ideal for the group to “deepen its Asia-Pacific network and implement sea-air multimodal transport”.
The group is also considering joint-ventures with other shipping companies, added Mr Lee.
“This is not only an important first step for the TVL group into the container shipping market, but also marks our transition from a traditional shipping agency, freight forwarder, and logistics group to operating its own fleet.”
TVL’s team in Hong Kong will work closely with the Taipei HQ and the group’s agency network across more than 100 countries.
The surge in container freight rates in recent years, fuelled by the Covid pandemic and then the Red Sea crisis and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has periodically attracted new players to liner shipping, although some ceased operations after sustaining losses.
Meanwhile, the intra-Asia trade TVL is entering has seen strong volume growth so far in 2026, with year-to-date shipments of 16.6m teu to the end of April, according to Container Trades Statistics, representing year-on-year growth of 10%, more than double average global container growth rates.
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