China Shipping signs cargo deal

SHANGHAI-BASED China Shipping (Group)Co,the country’s second-largest seagoing carrier,signed an agreement with CMA-CGM Group,France’s largest container line,to share cargo space. Under the arrangement, China Shipping and CMA will jointly contribute 50 container vseesls, with a total capacity of 139,000 TEUs(20-foot equivalent units),onto the Asia-Mediterranean line starting next month. The line provides weekly service connecting 28 ports in Asia,Europe and the Mediterranean. “This agreement will definitely benefit both companies,”said Li Kelin,president of China Shipping. “It will enable both sides to made better use of their shipping capacity and therefore provide customers not only with more choices but also more convenient services.” With the implementation of the agreement,China Shipping will be able to provide direct services to Europe from some of the country’s major ports ,including Dalian,Qingdao and Ningbo. In addition,it will have more ports of call in Southeast Asia and Europe.Meanwhile,CMA will also expand its global network by having more connections to China and Europe. In another move, China Shipping yesterday established a domestic container transport company in Dalian ,its third after Shanghai and Qingdao. The company,with a capacity of 2,500 TEUs,is expexted to handle more than 100.000TEUs annually. With reported assets of 26.5 billion yuan(US$3.2billion),China Shipping currently maintains a fleet of 369 vessels,with aggregate deadweight of 7.97million tons. The company employs more than 4,000.