TCC to Expand No-Frills China-Los Angeles Service

Ocean carrier start-up The Containership Company has announced that it will expand its no-frills express transpacific service between China and the Port of Los Angeles starting next month.

The carrier said that based on repeated customer requests, the Great Dragon service will expand to include calls in Qingdao, China. The first sailing from Qingdao will be Nov. 15 with a 14-day transit time to Los Angeles using the 2,900-TEU Shenzhen Dragon. The first sailing from Los Angeles will be Oct. 25.

The Great Dragon service started in April and has been promoted by TCC as a new shipping industry model akin to that used by budget airlines like JetBlue. When first launched in April, the Great Dragon service included stops at two ports in the Taicang International Gateway in China and the Los Angeles port's TraPac terminal. The Taicang complex, owned by Modern Terminals Ltd., is located in the major Chinese manufacturing province of Jiangsu. The service has been running with a 96 percent on-time reliability, according to the carrier.

TCC Completes First China-to-Los Angeles Run

The inaugural east-west run of the Port of Los Angeles' newest ocean carrier, The Containership Co., ended at the port's TraPac terminal on Sunday.

Dockers at TraPac immediately began unloading TCC's Taicang Dragon vessel, one of five vessels that will rotate in and out of the weekly service to Los Angeles.

Start-up carrier TCC, which is based in Norway, offers express container shipments between China and Los Angeles. The carrier uses a business model similar to the successful no-frills budget airlines like JetBlue.

The carrier expects to move about 250,000 cargo containers through Los Angeles each year.

TCC is also looking to an eventual Pacific Northwest expansion that may include the port in either Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia.

Start-Up Transpac Carrier Readies for Debut

Ocean carrier start-up The Containership Company continues to dot its ‘I’s and cross its ‘t’s as it prepares to begin express transpacific service next month between China and the Port of Los Angeles.

The firm said Tuesday it has chartered the fifth and final vessel required to begin its new weekly Great Dragon Service, set to run between the Taicang International Gateway in China and the Los Angeles port's TraPac terminal. The latest vessel, the 2,800 TEU container vessel E.R. Darwin, will be renamed the Suzhou Dragon for service under the TCC banner.

The Great Dragon service is schedule to start April 17, with an eastbound rotation starting in Taicang and arriving at Los Angeles on May 3.

TCC has promoted the port-to-port service as a new shipping industry model akin to that used by budget airlines like JetBlue.

The Taicang complex, owned by Modern Terminals Ltd., is located in the major Chinese manufacturing province of Jiangsu.