Region first stop on direct shipping route from Asia

The arrival of the container ship Venice Bridge today at a Norfolk wharf will mark the beginning of a new service providing a direct weekly trade link between Virginia and Asian manufacturing markets.

A consortium of four major Asian shipping lines - the CKYH steamship alliance - chose Hampton Roads as its first U.S. stop as part of the service, which provides 22-day transit between the vessels' last port of call in Asia and Virginia.

The alliance's members are China Ocean Shipping Co.; "K" Line, based in Japan; Yang Ming, based in Taiwan; and Hanjin, based in South Korea.

The "first-in" service is the first of its kind for the terminals owned and operated by the Virginia Port Authority, which announced it last month.

"This is a perfect fit for cargo coming to the U.S. East Coast from Asia that needs to be on the store shelves as soon as possible," said Thomas D. Capozzi, senior managing director of global sales for Virginia International Terminals Inc., in a prepared statement. VIT is a nonprofit affiliate of the port authority that operates the terminals. "This is a real economical advantage for our customers," Capozzi added.

The service to Virginia will use eight vessels, each with a capacity of 3,850 20-foot cargo containers.

The port rotation is Shanghai, Chiwan, Yantian, Hong Kong, Hampton Roads and New York, according to the authority.

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2249, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com