Central China's Wuhan is developing a direct liner service to Japan that is meant to make the city less dependent on regional feeder containerships.
Two feedermaxes set for delivery to locally controlled Wuhan Xingang Datong International Shipping will begin work this year in a direct service from the inland metropolis to Japan.
Wuhan Xingang Datong has six boxships on order ranging from 500 teu to 1,400 teu, according to VesselsValue.
The 560-teu Hua Hang Han Ya 1 (built 2019) is the first of four feeder vessels on order at China Merchants Heavy Industry's Jiangdong yard, the former CSC Jiangdong. Two more ships are on order at Wuhan University Technology Guangda Shipbuilding (WUT Guangda).
Wuhan Xingang and sister companies including Wuhan Xingang Changhai Shipping are affiliated with Wuhan New Port Construction Investment and Development Group, also known as Wuhan Xingang, as part of Central China Logistics Corp.
The group also operates asphalt carriers including two internationally trading 6,000-dwt ships, under the name Wuhan Datong Industry.
The company could not be reached for comment.
Chinese market players describe the venture as "not a commercial decision" but a politically driven promotional effort by local government bodies.
"I hope they can be successful," said one Shanghai boxship broker. "In the shipping market we should encourage different solutions. But from a liner shipping perspective, using such small ships in a long-distance dedicated service is not as economical as relying on Yangtze River feedering services."
Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, lies about 844 kilometres (525 miles) inland at the fork of the Yangtze and its main tributary, the Han River.
It is a major inland destination as a manufacturing centre and home to about 10 million people but also historically a regional transport centre as an access point to a large hinterland.
However, upriver draught, along with an 18-metre bridge clearance, makes Wuhan accessible only to smaller vessels.
