HMM announced that it will relaunch the Intra-Asia Cross Network(ICN) service, linking major ports in Korea, North China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, effective 9 October.
This service, launched last May, will be solely operated by HMM. It is also expected to provide the fastest transit time between Korea and Indonesia, taking seven days from Busan, Korea, to Jakarta/Surabaya, Indonesia.
ICN is scheduled to deploy six 1,700 teu containerships and, as a pendulum service, consists of ‘string 1’ and ‘string 2’, covering Vietnam/Thailand and Indonesia, respectively.
The port rotation of ICN service will be:
(String 1) Busan(North Port) – Shanghai – Ningbo – Ho Chi Minh – Laem Chabang –Incheon – Qingdao – Busan(North Port)
(String 2) Incheon – Qingdao – Busan(North Port) – Jakarta – Surabaya – Busan(New Port) – Busan(North Port) – Shanghai – Ningbo
An HMM official said, “Our renewed ICN service aims to extend our reach to Indonesia, one of our primary markets. We expect to provide our customers with increased connectivity and better operational agility within and beyond the region.”
Meanwhile, HMM will also expand the port coverage of TTP (Tianjin To Philippines) service as of 10 October, adding the three ports in North China – Dalian, Tianjin, and Ningbo.
The port rotation of TTP service will be:
Busan (North & New) – Dalian – Tianjin – Qingdao – Busan (New & North) – Shanghai – Ningbo – Kaohsiung – Manila (North & South) – Busan (North & New).