CKYH alliance starts calls to the Port of Halifax
A weekly container service linking Southeast Asia with the east coast of North America, starting on May 3, brings new traffic to the struggling Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The CKYH alliance (Cosco Container Lines, "K" Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping) plans to use eight "K" Line vessels, each with 3,800 TEUs capacity, to provide container services for dry and temperature-controlled cargo.
The Halifax Port Authority expects movement of 500 to 600 TEUs each week by this service as the summer progresses. The service, called AWE 4, will connect Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand with Canada and the U.S. Midwest through Halifax. The port rotation will be Singapore, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Nortfolk, New York, Halifax and Singapore.
The global economic recession has hit Halifax hard. Although there are no statistics for the first quarter this year, container volume dropped 21 percent in 2008 to 387,347 TEUs, or to 3.2 million metric tons from 4.2 million in 2007.
The major contributor, before containers, to Halifax traffic is bulk cargo and that fell in 2008 to 6.6 million metric tons from 7.6 million in 2007. Lesser traffic in breakbulk cargo and roll-on, roll-off cargo increased. Total cargo in 2008 was 10.3 million metric tons, down from 12.2 million in 2007 and 13.7 million in 2006.
The CKYH alliance (Cosco Container Lines, "K" Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping) plans to use eight "K" Line vessels, each with 3,800 TEUs capacity, to provide container services for dry and temperature-controlled cargo.
The Halifax Port Authority expects movement of 500 to 600 TEUs each week by this service as the summer progresses. The service, called AWE 4, will connect Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand with Canada and the U.S. Midwest through Halifax. The port rotation will be Singapore, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Nortfolk, New York, Halifax and Singapore.
The global economic recession has hit Halifax hard. Although there are no statistics for the first quarter this year, container volume dropped 21 percent in 2008 to 387,347 TEUs, or to 3.2 million metric tons from 4.2 million in 2007.
The major contributor, before containers, to Halifax traffic is bulk cargo and that fell in 2008 to 6.6 million metric tons from 7.6 million in 2007. Lesser traffic in breakbulk cargo and roll-on, roll-off cargo increased. Total cargo in 2008 was 10.3 million metric tons, down from 12.2 million in 2007 and 13.7 million in 2006.