The Containership Company has ceased its transpacific services due to low shipping prices and rising fuel costs, according to various media reports. The Norway-based company started operating a no-frills shuttle between the Yangtze port of Taicang and Los Angeles last April, but it has quickly run up losses.

“Our expectation that freight rates would rise this year hasn’t happened, so we have been forced to terminate our transpacific service,” Mr Tolstrop-Moller told Containerisation International.

“The volume out of Taicang has not been as anticipated, primarily due to the competitive situation between Chinese ports,” he added.

TCC recently added the ports of Ningbo and Qingdao to its initial direct Taicang-Los Angeles shuttle. However, lower freight rates and higher bunker prices affected the company’s profitability. It chartered five 3,000 TEU vessels, which are relatively more expensive to operate than larger vessels and which need to be fully utilised in order to be make a decent return, commented Maritime Professional.