THE STAR, April 1st, 2002 - WEST PORT further improved its connectivity to the US and Australia with the inclusion of two new services last month by China Shipping and Pacific Line.

The Asia American Thailand (AAT) weekly service began its first call at the terminal on March 25 while the New Guinea Pacific Line's PNG service started on March 18.

China Shipping's AAT will see the deployment of 10 2,500-TEU vessels with a 23 knot speed. The' service is an extension of the Transpacific Express Service that departs from West Port every Monday, said China Shipping (M) Agency deputy general manager Khu Heong Chye.

He said West Port would riot only be a seaport for the lines but also be used as the transhipment hub for US and Canada bound cargo, providing shippers with a direct service to ports in those countries.

Containers from other parts of the region such as Indonesia and the Indian sub continent would hence be feedered to the terminal for connection to mother vessels.

Using West Port as the first port of call,the route of the AAT service will include Laem Chabang, Hong Kong, Hakata, Kobe,Los Angeles, Vancouver and Seattle.

The move is expected to increase liftings at the terminal by 30% which has increased to 130 boxes weekly since the beginning of the year.

China Shipping saw the potential of exports ex Malaysia to US and Canada with the improving world economy.

The Australia and New Zealand-bound regional PNG service would call every fortnight and four multi-purpose ships have been deployed on this route.

The 1,022-TEU capacity vessels are able to carry both conventional and containerised cargo.