Maersk has won an additional two years for domestic container transshipments between ports in China.

China’s Transport Ministry this week announced an extension of the pilot cabotage program through December 2027.

The program aims to improve domestic export and import container flows between Yangshan port in Shanghai and select ports in northern China. It will also give Maersk (MAERSK-A.CO) more service options in Asia. 

A Maersk spokesperson confirmed the extension in an email to FreightWaves. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based company has handled transshipment relay volume of 100,000 containers since May 2022.

The Shanghai container port complex is the world’s busiest; in 2024 it became the first hub to handle 50 million twenty-foot equivalent units in a single year. 

Cabotage historically has been a tool to protect domestic cargo and passenger transportation within a country’s borders from foreign competition. 

Aiming to boost international shipping through Shanghai, China announced the cabotage plan in 2019, permitting foreign-owned ships to haul relay cargo between Yangshan and Dalian, Tianjin and Qingdao.

Liner operators in the past used Busan in South Korea, as well as Singapore and other ports, for transshipment.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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