Taizhou launches direct route to Central and South America

The vessel named KR Rania docks at Taizhou Port's Damaiyu port area. [Photo/Tide News]

A direct container shipping route from Taizhou, Zhejiang province, to Central and South America opened on Nov 3. The KR Rania departed from Taizhou Port's Damaiyu port area. Its cargo is expected to reach the Caribbean in 45 days, saving about 25 days compared with routing through neighboring ports.

The vessel carried home appliances, photovoltaic modules, and other products from eight Taizhou companies. Among them, Zhejiang Xingxing Cold Chain Integration shipped 68 standard containers. Its deputy general manager, Zheng Liangyong, said the company's business in Central and South America has grown by about 20 percent a year, while its Taizhou base exports around 7,000 containers to the region annually.

The route was jointly developed by Taizhou Ocean Investing Group, Yuhuan State Owned Assets Investment Management Group, and Ningbo Geyu Shipping. It operates once a month on a fixed schedule.

Yan Jun, a person in charge of the route operator, said bookings for subsequent sailings in Taizhou had already far exceeded the capacity of the first voyage. The operator is working to secure additional capacity and plans to gradually increase the service frequency to one voyage every three weeks at least, he added.