APL Co. Pte Ltd and Pacific International Lines (Pte) Ltd (PIL) announced the launch of a new joint service linking the Far East and Red Sea. In a joint statement made by both carriers,

APL and PIL said the Red Sea is an important market for exporters in Central and Southern China. By providing weekly sailings from major Asian ports, as well as competitive transit times from Asia to Red Sea ports via the trans-shipment hub in Singapore, both lines are confident that their customers would be well-served with these new connections.

Eight post-Panamax ships of about 6000 TEUs will be deployed in the joint service. APL will operate three vessels, and PIL will operate five vessels.

Port rotation of the new service will be:

Shanghai - Ningbo - Xiamen - Chiwan - Nansha - Singapore - Djibouti - Aden - Jeddah - Sukhna - Aqaba - Djibouti - Singapore - Nansha - Shanghai The first vessel to be deployed on the joint service will be leaving Shanghai on June 21st, 2012.

Source: APL