SOUTH KOREA's Samra Midas Group (SMG), which acquired Hanjin Shipping's Asia-North America shipping route, has applied to the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to start a new transpacific container service.
Branded SM Line, it would begin operating in April, deploying a fleet of five 6,500-TEU vessels, reports London's Loadstar.
Commissioner William Doyle told a meeting of the National Retail Federation (NRF) in New York recently that executives from SMG had visited the FMC to discuss its application.
He told delegates SM Line was proposing to operate a liner service between Shanghai and Ningbo in China, Busan in South Korea and Long Beach on the US west coast "from the ashes of Hanjin".
"In addition," said Mr Doyle, "SM Line intends to operate eight intra-Asia services between China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries."
For these services SM Line intended to deploy 11 vessels in the 1,000-2,500 TEU range.
SM Line was officially launched on January 6, after the completion of its organisational structure at its headquarters in Yoido, Seoul, by new director Kim Chil-bong (also president of Korea Line Corp) with a ceremony attended by 200 employees, many formerly employed by Hanjin.
