The Pacific Express Service will start on September 16 from Ho Chi Minh City’s Cat Lai Port and connect with Maersk’s TP6 vessel in Hong Kong for a connection with Los Angeles, Maersk Line Vietnam has said.
Peter Smidt-Nielsen, general director of Maersk Line Vietnam, said the new service will cut two days off the transit time between Vietnam and the west coast of the US, taking just 17 days to reach Los Angeles.
The announcement of Maersk’s new service follows the introduction since June of direct services from the deep-water ports of Tan Cang-Cai Mep and Saigon Port-PSA in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to the US West Coast by several other carriers, including APL and MOL, Hanjin, and K’Line.
Smidt-Nielsen said his company is working with Vietnamese maritime and port authorities to open direct services from Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s deep-water ports to Europe and the US.