Ocean Network Express (ONE) has introduced its new EC5 route calling at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Headquartered in Singapore, ONE was established on July 7, 2017 through the integration of “K” Line, MOL and NYK. Its new EC5 service was launched on April 23, 2018 at the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) at the Port of Colombo.
South Asia Gateway Terminal is owned by a consortium of local and global companies, including APM Terminals, which holds a 33 per cent share. Opened in 1999, it was Sri Lanka’s first private terminal. It has seen almost continuous year-on-year volume growth and achieved a container throughput of 1.8 million TEUs in 2017.
New weekly service to North America
ONE’s EC5 service will link Asia to the East Coast of North America, with calls at Laem Chabang, Thailand; Cai Mep, Vietnam; Singapore and Colombo before crossing the Atlantic via the Suez Canal, calling Halifax, Canada; and New York, Savannah, Jacksonville and Norfolk in the US, before returning eastbound with stops at Halifax; Jebel Ali, the UAE, and Singapore.
The Port of Colombo, with combined throughput of 6.2 million TEUs in 2017, has risen to a ranking of 23rd worldwide, and is a major transhipment port for India, Bangladesh and domestic cargoes, as well as for cargoes in transit from South-East Asian ports to Europe and North America. Transhipment represents 75 per cent of Colombo’s overall container handling traffic.
