- Mediterranean Shipping Company, headquartered in Switzerland and widely known as MSC, is all set to launch direct container lines on the China-Bangladesh route on 27 April.
- It aims at facilitating direct shipping between the two Asian countries, with their bilateral trade booming.
A recent news article published in The TBS News states that Direct shipment from China begins 27 April, sailing time to be half.
4 ships under MSC service
Initially, four ships will move under an MSC service named “Bengal Express” which is expected to halve the shipping time from 25 days to 12 days. Two more ships will be added to the fleet soon.
“The container lines will come to Bangladesh loading goods from different China ports and two ports in Singapore and Malaysia. However, the ships will unload goods only at Chattogram Port,” Ajmir Hossain Chowdhury, MSC operation and logistics head for Bangladesh, told The Business Standard (TBS).
For the return trips, they will carry goods for trans-shipment ports, he added.
“Bangladeshi importers will benefit from the service as their freight costs will also be reduced substantially.”
Service starts with MSC KYMEA
The service will start with the ship MSC KYMEA starting out from Hong Kong Port on 27 April, the MSC official said, adding that Chattogram Port will see a container ship each week.
Currently, 19 container lines belonging to Maersk, Hyundai and Sinokor, SITC Container lines and CNC, Cosco, are carrying goods between China and Bangladesh via a couple of trans-shipment ports, where they load and unload cargo, causing a delay in shipments.
Appreciating the new MSC service, Bangladeshi traders said it would help the country increase bilateral trade with China, a major raw materials supplier in the world, as well as help RMG exports indirectly.
Imports from China
“A large portion of Bangladesh’s imports come from China. The shipping time reduction is obviously a blessing for our economy,” said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“With the reduced shipment time for raw materials, we will be able to perform better in delivering our RMG exports on time,” said Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Currently, Bangladesh sources 80-90% of RMG raw materials from China, brought by container ships, the exporter noted.
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Source: TBS News
