New shipping routes highlight growing Asia-to-Mexico trade

A new sea route from Cosco Shipping Lines became operational on Monday, as several global ocean carriers have initiated services targeting Asia-to-Mexico trade.

In addition to Cosco, global ocean carriers Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM have launched services to tap into soaring container volumes and growing investment in Mexico by Chinese companies.

Cosco Shipping Lines and its subsidiary OOCL’s new Transpacific Latin Pacific 5 (TLP5) line offer direct connections between China, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

“To enhance our network coverage in the emerging markets, we are very pleased to launch a new service TLP5 in our Asia Latin America network to provide a comprehensive port coverage in the regions,” OOCL said in a news release.

TLP5 offers transit times of 15 and 20 days from Qingdao, China, to the ports of Ensenada and Manzanillo, Mexico, respectively. The service will utilize eight ships of 4,000 to 6,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. TLP5 launched with the 5,668-TEU vessel Xin Da Lian from Ningbo, China.

Port rotation for TLP5 includes Busan, South Korea; Dalian, China; Ningbo; Shanghai; Qingdao; Ensenada; Manzanillo; Ensenada; Yokohama, Japan; and returning to Busan.