Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) made known its plan to further boost its container shipping business in Myanmar with the recent visit of group president Koichi Muto to the Southeast Asian country.
Said MOL president Muto: “As Myanmar continues to open up and expand, we see the country standing in front of a new world—a world of growing economic opportunities of trade/infrastructure development and regional strategic hub position for maritime transportation. MOL is pleased to work together with the country to seize the growth opportunities by further expanding our container ship businesses in time.”
MOL’s presence in Myanmar dates back to 1898 when the first cargo ship Hikosan Maru called at the Port of Yangon. Since March 2012, a direct service linking Singapore and Yangon has been established, providing scheduled sailing to Myanmar with assured transit time and connections to the line’s global network.
In October 2012, it established MOL Myanmar, a wholly owned subsidiary. Apart from the future expansion of its container shipping operations in Myanmar, the company said it may expand in time its other businesses to cover bulkers, tankers, and car carriers.
In related developments, MOL announced it will upgrade its feeder service SYX to further fortify the Singapore-Yangon connection from mid-March 2014 under a joint operation with Regional Container Lines.
The new SYX service will utilize two vessels and provide a regular weekly connection with a competitive transit time of four days to ensure smooth connections between Singapore and Yangon in Myanmar.
It will begin with the vessel Danu Bhum departing from Singapore March 18, 2014. Rotation will be Singapore, Yangon, and back to Singapore.
Photo: eGuideTravel
