Maersk became the first foreign carrier to conduct an international cargo relay in China. Credit: AP Moller-Maersk.

Danish shipping company Maersk became the first foreign carrier to carry out an international cargo relay in China.

The relay included 27 containers from Vancouver, Canada, which were loaded onto the Merete Maersk boxship en route from the Yangshan terminal in Shanghai to Tianjin.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

The operation was conducted as part of the China State Council’s 2019 strategy to accelerate the development of the international shipping centre in Shanghai.

Last November, China’s Ministry of Transport decided to allow international cargo relay on a trial basis until 2024.

Qualified carriers will be allowed to use their vessels for international cargo relay between Shanghai Yangshan and northern Chinese ports, including Dalian, Tianjin and Qingdao, based on certain conditions.

See Also:

International cargo relay shipments between two Chinese ports have historically been seen as cabotage and banned for foreign carriers.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Busan in South Korea, Singapore and other international ports were instead used for transhipment.

Maersk CEO Soren Skou said: “We are proud to be the first foreign company that successfully implements international cargo relay in China.

“Transhipment in Shanghai allows us to improve services through optimised networks and could also address some of the factors behind the bottlenecks in Chinese supply chains, shortening transit times, reducing emissions and freeing up additional capacity for our customers.

“We appreciate this initiative by the Chinese authorities. It is an important step towards optimising relay regulations, and we hope it will serve as an inspiration in other geographies where restrictions on international relay still exist.”

In March, Maersk subsidiary APM Terminals announced plans to offload its 30.75% interest in Russia’s Global Ports Investments.