A vessel of Singaporean shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL) berthed at Chittagong port jetty on Monday (16 September), only eight days after it left the Chinese port of Shekou in Shenzhen, under a direct service from China to Chittagong to provide fast service to Bangladeshi shippers.
The vessel came with 935 TEUs, mainly carrying raw materials for Bangladesh’s export-oriented garment industry. Importers are very happy to get raw materials within a short period of time compared to the regular service spanning 20 days which touches regional hub ports in Singapore and Malaysia before reaching Bangladesh.
The new service has been named China Chittagong Express (CCE) service with a consortium of vessels operated by three companies, PIL, Interasia Lines and SL Shipping & Logistics Pte.
Starting with three vessels to run weekly service in the China-Chittagong route, the consortium plans to add one more vessel in the route when demand rises further.
The ships under the service begin journey from Chinese port of Ningbo then goes to Shanghai to collect more cargoes and finally reaches Shekou port in South China before sailing towards Chittagong port. From Chittagong port they will directly go to Ningbo port again avoiding the transshipment ports.
The other Chinese shipping services run in this route usually touches the transshipment ports like Singapore and ports in Malaysia before the reach their base stations.
Bangladesh imports some 25% of its total imports from China followed by India. As trade with India disrupted, businesses say, import from China will further increase in the days to come which the direct shipping service will facilitate.
According to shipping sector officials, a total of six major shipping lines operate ten vessels every week in the China-Chittagong route and are competing each other to capture business.
The PIL first introduce China-Chittagong service back in 2011 but latter suspended the service due to various reasons. Now the operator again started the shipping service amid the rise of demand.
In July, Maersk Line added one more ship in its fleet in Chittagong-China route totaling three as it sees business prospect. In the same month, MSC also launched a service in China-Chittagong route.
Additionally, Hong Kong-based SITC operates two services a week in this route while Korea-based Sinocor-Hyundai has one service a week and French company CNC Line has two services a week.
Sharar Nayel
Asia Correspondent
