WESTPORT has launched a weekly service to cater for shipping demands from the east and west.

As a transhipment base with numerous routes heading towards Europe in the west and Asia in the east, Goldstar, Norasia and China Shipping Container Lines have chosen Westport as the central hub for the Asia Europe Express II (AEX II) service.

The service will cover both eastern and western routes, with China Shipping deploying three vessels that will depart from China and Goldstar and Norasia each deploying a vessel that would come from Europe.

Falling under theAEX II (East) umbrella, the route undertaken by China Shipping includes Dahan, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Hong Kong, Chiwan and Port Klang.

The AEX II (West) route, undertaken by Goldstar and Norasia, will cover Suez, Malta, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, FeIixstowe and Port Klang.The service was officially launched last month when the mv Norasia Bellatrix made its maiden service call. The vessel recorded a total of 1,117 moves while berthing in Westport.

Representatives from the three shipping lines said that they agreed upon Westport as the central transhipment hub for the AEX II service as it was fitted with world-class infrastructure and equipment that had the capability to handle the largest of vessels at the shortest possible time.

They added that apart from being information technology-driven. Westport also had records in having fast turnaround time.