Port of Oakland gets new inbound call from China

The newest trans-Pacific ocean carrier, Hainan P O Shipping Co., Ltd. (P O Shipping) has expanded its services with a call connecting Oakland with five major ports in China.

P O Shipping inaugurated the Oakland earlier this week, with the arrival of its vessel, the POS Hong Kong.  It is part of a weekly Central Asia Express (CAE) service, which was launched in August 2010 with one U.S. port of call at Long Beach. This service will now link Oakland with Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai.

“Our expansion to serve Oakland demonstrates our commitment to provide a greater level of service to our customers,” said K.K. Chan, president of P O Shipping Agency (USA), Inc. “As the third-busiest port on the U.S. West Coast, and its location as a premier gateway for U.S. agricultural exports, Oakland is a natural choice.”

Jock O’Connell, Beacon Economics’ International Trade Adviser, told LM however, that outbound loaded container traffic at the Oakland was far less robust than in Southern California last month, posting a gain of just 0.3 percent over October.

Five vessels in the 2,700 to 3,200 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container unit) range comprise the weekly service and will call each Saturday at the Oakland International Container Terminal facility (berths 57-59).

P O Shipping also operates an integrated feeder network in China, which will enable cargo from the outlying ports of Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian, and Nansha to transship to the CAE for direct transit to Oakland.

“P O Shipping’s decision to expand to Oakland means more choices and flexibility for U.S. importers and exporters who use our gateway,” said James Kwon, the Port of Oakland’s maritime director.”

Its service connects Oakland with some of the fastest-growing regions in China, particularly the Yangtze River Delta and the northern Bohai Rim.”