APM Terminals Bahrain, the operators of the Khalifa bin Salman Port (KBSP), has inaugurated the first direct shipping service between Bahrain and the United States West Coast/Korea.

The inaugural Hanjin/NYK service will provide shipping companies with access to service to and from United States West Coast and Korea, a first for Bahrain, said a statement.

The agreement was signed by APM Terminals Bahrain with Nippon Yusan Kysha (NYK) Japanese company and Hanjin Shipping, a Korean company in Singapore, recently. The new service will directly connect international ports in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Los Angeles and Shanghai with Bahrain.

Simon Brebner, chief commercial officer at APM Terminals Bahrain, said: “The excellent cooperation and support we have had from the Ports and Maritime Affairs, under the leadership of the Minister of Transportation, has enabled us to sign this significant agreement for Bahrain."  

"We are pleased to welcome this new direct service which will now open direct lines for shipping companies in the kingdom and significantly boost transshipment activities,” he added.

This new service will arrive in Bahrain every Monday evening. Bahrain’s Free Trade Agreement with the US will complement the direct service to the West Coast, and ensure that the new shipping route will provide opportunities for further trade growth between the two countries, said the statement.

Furthermore, the service will increase the kingdom’s access to new and competitive markets globally and will sit alongside the already well-established APL WAX (West Asia Express) service that has been calling directly from Asia to Bahrain since 2010, it said. - TradeArabia News Service