YICT is expecting its first South America service on 1 May 2005. This is the Far East/South Africa/South America service (ESA) operated by Evergreen, COSCO and Lloyd Triestino (LT). By then, YICT will provide a totoal of 63 regular shipping services to major ports in the Americas, Europe, Australia, South Africa and Asia. YICT is now one of the busiest ports in Southern China.
The ESA commenced operations in 1999. Recognising the ever-increasing trading among Asia, South Africa and South America, as well as more accurately targeting customers' needs, Evergreen, COSCO and LT have combined to upgrade the shipping capacity of the service by deploying 11 container vessels on the line and extending the current port coverage to Yantian, Ningbo and Shanghai. Cargo can now be shipped directly to South Africa and South America from Yantian, thus saving time and cost for shippers.
The new service will berth at Yantian every Saturday. Its round trip takes 70 days and calls at Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Durban, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Santos.