Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. (YM) inked a partnership agreement with Thailand’s Regional Container Lines (RCL) Group aimed at pooling the companies’ resources to weather a persisting downturn in the sector, according to a report in Taipei Times.
The agreement is expected to improve vessel utilization, reduce operating costs and expand coverage.
The companies announced plans to expand bilateral cooperation on terminal operations in Taiwan and Thailand, slot exchange and vessel chartering services, as well as laden trucking and equipment interchange contracts.
Due to slowing growth in developed markets, the companies are hoping to further tap the Asian market, where growth has been more resilient.
“We are expecting a tough year ahead, but market conditions should improve as oil prices begin to normalize,” Yang Ming Marine chairman Frank Lu ssaid.
The companies have already launched SE7 service, ointly operated by YM and RCL with four 1,000TEU container vessels.
The ports of call are Singapore, Pasir Gudang, Haiphong, Qinzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Yangon (MIP terminal), Pasir Gudang, Singapore with a round voyage of 28 days.
Yang Ming Marine reported that sales in the first two months of this year dropped 16.52 percent annually to NT$18.51 billion (US$563.13 million).