Demand sees Wan Hai develop Vietnam services

Wan Hai Lines is raising rates on its Taiwan-Vietnam services as the Taiwanese intra-Asia carrier enhances its coverage of Vietnam with two new services starting 2 May.

Citing rising demand amid a capacity and container crunch, the increase will be US$50/TEU, effective from 7 May. Freight for 40ft containers is expected to be around US$1,000 therafter.

Wan Hai, which will take delivery of 10 new ships in 2021, will launch a weekly service connecting South China, Vietnam and Western India and the other is a weekly Taiwan-Vietnam-Thailand service.

Wan Hai said, “We want to strengthen our coverage of the Southeast Asian market and provide customers with better transit times and more convenient shipping services.”

The China-Western India 8 (CI8) service will see Wan Hai deploying four ships with sizes ranging from 1,700TEU to 3,000TEU. The service loop will be Nansha, Cai Mep, Port Klang, Nhava Sheva, Colombo, Port Klang, Da Nang, Hai Phong and Hong Kong /Qinzhou.

The service will begin with a chartered ship, the 1,740TEU Hansa Rendsburg, departing Nansha on 2 May.

CI8 will allow Wan Hai to offer shippers a direct connection between Vietnam and Western India. The Taiwanese carrier will also launch another weekly sailing between China and Western India, complementing its three existing China-Western India services.

On 2 May, Wan Hai will also launch its Taiwan – Thailand – Vietnam (TVT2) service, using two 1,050TEU ships.

TVT2’s loop is Taipei, Kaohsiung, Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh, Kaohsiung and Taipei.

Vietnam continues to generate more containerised exports leading a number of carriers to expand their South East Asian connections. Volumes between East Asia and South East Asia increased after US-China trade tensions caused manufacturers to shift some production from China to Vietnam.