The handling of the Xin Hong Kong at the Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH) on 17 July 2009 marked the start of a new weekly container line service that links northern Europe with the Far East.
Under the auspices of the new joint service the Chinese company China Shipping Container Line (CSCL) and the Taiwan-based Evergreen Line are cooperating in these waters for the first time.
The new AEX-1 / CEM service will be using four CSCL ships, each with a capacity of 9,600 TEUs, and four Evergreen vessels with a capacity between 7,000 and 8,000 TEUs. The CMA CGM, ZIM and IRIS Lines shipping companies have also reserved container slots on the service.
After putting in to Hamburg for the first time, the XIN HONG KONG visited Rotterdam and Zeebrügge before heading for its home port of Hong Kong by way of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Yantian (Shenzhen). The service speed of the vessels deployed makes it possible for the round trip to be completed in 56 days.
Container transport between Hamburg and Asia reached a total volume of 5.5 million containers (TEUs) in 2008. With a volume of 3.1 million TEUs, the People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong) maintained its peak position in 2008 among the ten most important trading partners of the Port of Hamburg in the container sector.
(www.portofhamburg.com)