China, Germany launch express maritime shipping service

A Chinese container ship has completed its first non-stop voyage to Germany marking the launch of a "China-Europe express" shipping route.

Unlike traditional shipping routes, this new route will provide “point-to-point" transportation service without intermediate stops and reduce delivery time from 45 days to 26 days.

The "KAWA Ningbo" cargo ship, carrying over 1700 containers of new-energy and other high-value goods, will operate between Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang Province and the Jade Weser Port in Wilhelmshaven, Germany's only deep-water port.

The new service will operate on a monthly schedule and provide export operations for industries in the Yangtze River Delta region, with focus on the "new three items" - electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, - said in press-release of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group Co.

"The global interconnectivity is growing, and supply chain reliability is becoming more critical than ever. It's not just about competition, it's about creating real added value, especially where speed is essential," said Frank Doods, State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Transport, Construction, and Digitization, at the ceremony celebrating the route's launch.

In terms of the cost, direct shipping can be generally more expensive than sea freight involving multiple port stops, but it remains more affordable and offers greater capacity compared with air freight and China-Europe freight trains, experts said.

Relying on the "China-Europe Express" and overseas warehouses, goods directly shipped from Ningbo Zhoushan Port can be transhipped through Wilhelmshaven Port as a distribution hub, to northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region by sea, or to northwestern European countries such as Germany, France and Belgium, and major Central and Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland, according to the press release.

Copied