Grand China Shipping suspends trans-pacific service

Grand China Shipping is suspending a weekly trans-pacific containership service– Super Pacific Express (SPX) — that it initiated in March this year. SPX links Long Beach with the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Yantian and involves five ships.

Today, Grand China Shipping said:

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Dear Valued Customers,

Today with regret we are announcing that we will temporarily suspend our SPX service due to unfavorable market conditions. This process will be managed very carefully to ensure an orderly transition which is least disruptive to your supply chain moves.

This is a decision that has been made with sound considerations. The rising bunker costs as well as the weakening economic conditions lead us to believe that we are facing more challenges than any quick and sustainable trade recovery.

Despite the deteriorating market volumes in the Pacific trade over the past months, we have endeavored to run our existing service without interruption, however, with no end in sight to the rate and volume pressures in this trade we have made this difficult decision to suspend the service temporarily. We want to reiterate that we will make every effort to ensure your supply chain is not interrupted.

Here below are the critical dates and information related to our final Eastbound and Westbound voyages:

Eastbound from China to the U.S. West Coast:

Our final sailing from China to the U.S. West Coast will be the Cape Madrid voyage 1107E, departing Yantian on November 5th , Xiamen on November 7th, Ningbo on November 9th and Shanghai on November 10th, 2011. All cargo booked and loaded for this vessel will be delivered to the final destination in North America without disruption.

All empty containers not used for above vessel Cape Madrid voyage 1107E should be returned to our container depots in Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai. Please contact the respective Grand China Shipping (Yantai) Co. Ltd (GCS) offices at these 4 locations.

Westbound from the U.S. West Coast to China:

Our final sailing will be Cape Madrid voyage 1107W, sailing Long Beach on November 25th, arriving Xiamen on December 11th, Ningbo on December 13th and Shanghai on December 14th, 2011. The vessel is expected to sail on schedule and cargo will be delivered in China without interruption.

With the temporary suspension of our Trans Pacific service, we will be focusing on our core trade lanes such as the China / Japan and Southeast Asia trades as well as our domestic markets. Our company remains financially sound and we continue to provide reliable services in all these markets.

In case of any questions, please contact your respective GCS account representative. Thank you for the support you have granted Grand China Shipping (Yantai) Co. Ltd and we look forward to continuing to serve you in the Japan, Southeast Asia as well as the domestic markets.

Sincerely,

Li Xialong

General Manager,

Grand China Shipping (Yantai) Co. Ltd

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November 2, 2011