Capacity boost as box trade grows between India and China
Container capacity on the trades between India and China is seeing a rapid increase in ...
Credit: CULines.
By Alison Koo
China United Lines (CULines) is widening its Red Sea coverage with a new service linking Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as mainstream operators remain reluctant to resume transits through the area.
The Chinese state-controlled carrier originally focused on intra-Asia trades, but joined other opportunistic operators that filled the void left by mainline operators that shunned the Suez Canal following Houthi attacks on vessels in late 2023.
Marketed as the SJA, CULines’ new service begins 29 October from Sokhna, using the 931 teu Sunny 68, calling at Sokhna, Jeddah, Aden, Jeddah, and Sokhna. Sunny 68, currently deployed on CULines’ China-Red Sea service (REX), is repositioning from China to the Middle East ahead of SJA’s launch.
CULines offers connections to Jeddah with two Far East-Red Sea/Gulf loops, as well as an India-Gulf-Red Sea loop, and its Jeddah-Port Sudan service, which launched in April.
Despite US president Donald Trump pushing a Gaza peace plan, mainstream shipping lines are still not ready to resume Suez Canal transits.
Linerlytica this week stated that the number of containerships diverted from the Suez route had remained steady, at more than 330 (4.6m teu) detouring round the Cape of Good Hope..
Players are doubtful that the Houthis will cease assaults on ships even if Israel reached a truce with Hamas.
At the Marine Fuels 360 event in Singapore yesterday, Swire Shipping COO Ben Pike reminded attendees that the Houthis had extended their target area from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea.
Mr Pike said: “I don’t foresee this (situation) to be resolved anytime soon. The Houthis will find another reason to continue attacking ships.”
Meanwhile, yesterday, Maersk Line announced higher surcharges on containers moving from the Middle East to Europe.
While the exact hike was not disclosed, the Danish carrier said its current surcharges would be in place until 14/15 October, citing “industry-wide disruptions, including delays and bottlenecking at ports” as the reason for the increase.
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