Nansha starts operation of direct shipping route to US west coast

The container ship Pinocchio arrives at the third-phase wharf at Nansha Port of Guangzhou Port on Aug 16. [Photo by Zhu Junkun/gznsnews.com.cn]

The container ship Pinocchio arrived at the third-phase wharf at the Nansha Port of Guangzhou Port on Aug 16.

It has marked the operation of the first direct cargo route to the west coast of the United States from Nansha Port and is conducted by the Singapore-based Sea Lead Shipping. 

Six container ships that are able to carry 4,900 to 6,350 containers will be put into operation on this shipping route every two weeks in the preliminary stage and the interval will be shortened to one week in the future.

The ship will depart from Nansha and arrive at Long Beach in the US via Ningbo in Zhejiang province. Then the ship will head back to Nansha without transit. 

Officials from Nansha Port noted that the port will team with Sea Lead Shipping to offer regular and convenient direct shipping service between ports on the west coast of the US and Nansha for companies managing import and export business in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Opening 160 cargo shipping routes, Nansha port has achieved a total import and export volume of more than 120 billion yuan ($18.53 billion) in the first half of 2021, expanding by 21.5 percent year on year.