Container shipping leader APL delivered an answer to the global freight congestion crisis with the arrival of its Suez Express service from South Asia. APL said the weekly service will provide the industry's fastest transit times from Asia to the U.S. East Coast through the Suez Canal. More importantly, added APL Senior Vice President Bob Sappio, it will provide shippers dependable Asian access to the U.S. East Coast at a time when other transport alternatives are becoming increasingly congested.
"As container volumes grow and the transport system becomes overburdened, shippers are finding it harder and harder to eliminate variability from their supply chains," said Sappio, who manages the Transpacific trade for APL. "The Suez Express will replace variability with dependability."
Sappio made his remarks to a dockside audience of 150 customers, civic and government dignitaries at New York Container Terminal on Staten Island. They were on hand to celebrate the arrival of the 903-foot President Adams, the first APL vessel in the weekly Suez service. The President Adams is one of eight ships in the Suez Express. Each can carry between 4,000 and 4,500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).
Sappio said the Suez Express will help meet the growing demand for service from Asia to East Coast markets. In addition, he said it will:
- Provide four U.S. ports of callNew York, Charleston, Savannah and Norfolkat a time when most East Coast services offer only three;
- Connect nearly all of South Asiaincluding India, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesiato the U.S. by providing feeder service to direct ports of call; and
- Offer increased dependability to high-value-cargo shippers such as the East Coast fashion industry. Reliable transit times through the Suez Canal can eliminate the uncertainty connected with shipments discharged at U.S. West Coast ports and transported cross-country via congested intermodal rail, Sappio explained.
The Suez Express Service port rotation includes Singapore, Colombo, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk, Jebel Ali, Port Kelang, Singapore. Transit times include: Singapore to New York in just 21 days and Singapore to Charleston and Savannah in 24 and 25 days, respectively.
APL said the Suez Express Service underscores its commitment to East Coast trade. Earlier this summer, APL launched its new all-water ESX service between Asia and the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.
Four of the vessels in the Suez service -the President Adams, President Polk, President Jackson and President Truman - are U.S. Flag vessels. U.S. Flag vessels are registered in the United States and carry American crews.
About APL
APL is a global container transportation business offering more than 60 weekly services and nearly 300 calls at more than 90 ports in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It combines world-class intermodal operations with leading edge IT and e-commerce. APL is a unit of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global logistics and transportation company. For more information, visit the APL Web site at www.apl.com.
