Regional Container Lines (RCL) is launching a new feeder service between Vietnam and major transhipment hubs in Singapore and Malaysia.
The Thai feeder operator has teamed up with Gold Star Line on a route linking Ho Chi Minh City with Port Klang and Singapore.
The new service is due to kick off on 18 August from Vietnam’s largest city initially using a 900-teu containership, RCL confirmed.
“With companies relocating their supply chains to South East Asia and Vietnam in particular, both our carrier owned container (COC) and shipper owned container (SOC) customers alike have requested us to improve our sailing frequency and connectivity between Ho Chi Minh to Singapore and Port Klang,” said an RCL spokesperson.
“This new service will complement the RHS1 for Ho Chi Minh/Singapore/Ho Chi Minh by providing our customers with both a mid- and end-week window ex-Ho Chi Minh for their connections in Singapore and Port Klang to the rest of the network.”
Bangkok-listed RCL currently owns and operates a fleet of 43 containerships with sizes ranging between 200 teu and 6,621 teu.
Several countries are encouraging their companies to diversify their supply chains outside of China in the wake of increasing geopolitical unrest and Covid-19.
Earlier this month, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry unveiled the first group of Japanese companies it would subsidise to shift manufacturing out of China to South East Asia or Japan.
Eighty-seven companies or groups will receive a total of ¥70bn ($653m) to move production lines, in a bid to reduce Japan's reliance on its large neighbour, and build resilient supply chains, reported the Nikkei Asian Review.
In June, RCL announced a revamp of its service between Malaysia and ports in Indonesia in a similar response to companies relocating their production facilities within South East Asia.
