Evergreen and COSCO to upgrade their ESA joint service

Recognising the growing market potential in China as well as better meeting customers' needs and improving operating efficiency, Evergreen Marine Corporation (EMC) and COSCO Container Lines, Ltd(COSCO)are pleased to announce that by inviting Lloyd Triestino (LT) as a new partner, the two lines will upgrade the Far East to South Africa and East Coast of South America service (ESA), a joint service currently operated by Evergreen and COSCO.

By deploying one additional vessel, these three lines are able to extend their current port coverage to Shanghai, Ningbo and Yantian. Such service upgrading allows vessels to make direct calls at major Chinese ports, hence saving time originally required for transshipment and further to provide all shippers with a faster and more efficient transportation service.

Effective from late April this year, the upgraded ESA service will deploy eleven vessels. Six of these will be provided by EMC, while COSCO and LT will contribute three and two respectively. The port rotation of this 77-day round trip is as follows:

Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Durban, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santos, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Shanghai.

The three lines further state that faster transits between major ports will enhance service quality and help shippers to seize new business opportunities in the marketplace.