A U.S. flag carrying shipping company Horizon Lines and an Asian freightliner Mariana Express Lines Limited (MELL) have partnered up to provide new shipping routes to Micronesia.
On December 15, pilule both companies launched the new Micronesia Express Service servicing the United States West Coast to select destinations in Micronesia. Horizon Lines will transport cargo from Mainland U.S.A to Honolulu where MELL will then deliver to ports in Micronesia. The new service will deliver weekly shipments from Los Angeles, patient Oakland and Tacoma to ports in Majuro, tadalafil Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, Palau and Saipan.
According to MELL President Tong Hui, “There is ongoing demand from U.S. shippers for service to [Micronesia] and by partnering with Horizon Lines [the two companies] can fill the niche to meet this demand with reliable deliveries and a regular schedule.”
Horizon Lines, which shuttled between the U.S. West Coast to Guam then Micronesia for two decades, discontinued its shipping service in November last year, saying its growing capacity continued “to outpace demand” in the region.
Horizon’s pullout left Matson with a monopoly as the only U.S. carrier currently delivering cargo shipment from continental U.S. Micronesia through Guam.
According to U.S. Federal law under the Jones Act, any shipping company traveling from one U.S. port to another such as Honolulu to Guam must be constructed in the United States, and crewed entirely by U.S. citizens or permanent residents. This is why MELL, a Singapore based company can not service Guam, and why the company partnered with Horizon Lines which services mainland U.S. to Honolulu. Horizon Lines spokesperson Gordon Forsyth said that having another service available for mainland shippers to Micronesia “means better service and more efficiency,” and for Micronesians, might possibly lower costs with the added competition thereby shifting the savings to consumers of retail items.
