COSCO Launches New Shipping Service

China Ocean Shipping Corporation (COSCO) Container Lines has launched a weekly shipping service from Shanghai to Japan and the U.S. east coast.

Operated jointly by COSCO, Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. and Yang Ming Lines of Taiwan, the service will shorten travel time between Hong Kong and New York from 33 days to 26 days and went into operation on Monday, officials said.

The route starts in Shanghai with stops at Yantian, in south China's Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and the U.S. cities of New York, Norfolk, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Japan's Tokyo and Kobe, they said. Nine ships, each with a capacity of 3,400 teu, will reportedly be used on the route.