On 7 November 2007, YICT welcomed the maiden call of the "Ibn Khallikan" – part of the new East Mediterranean and Black Sea (EBX) service of the New World Alliance (NWA), Hanjin and United Arab Shipping Co.(UASC).
The EBX service directly connects major hub ports in Asia with those in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, which have been growing rapidly since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU early this year.
Eight 2,700-TEU vessels (three from MOL, two from APL, and one each from UASC, HJL, and HMM) have been deployed under the EBX service, which calls at Yantian every Wednesday on a 56-day rotation. That rotation is as follows: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, the Suez Canal, Damietta, Istanbul, Constanza, Ilyichevsk, Izmir, Damietta, the Suez Canal, Jeddah, Singapore and Shanghai.
This is the first time HMM and HJL have cooperated since they launched a US service in 1985.