APL Japan, the first ship in APL’s new premium container service Eagle Express X (EXX), arrived in the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday.
APL announced plans for the service in March, but the first
ship in the service sailed from Shanghai Aug. 4. Bluewater
Reporting said the weekly EXX service uses five sister ships with 4,832-TEU
capacity that operate in a Ningbo-Shanghai-Los Angeles-Dutch Harbor,
Alaska-Yokohama-Busan-Ningbo rotation. The transit time from Shanghai to
Los Angeles is just 11 days and from Ningbo to Los Angeles 12 days.
Ed Aldridge, president of APL North America, said the service provides customers “with a cost-efficient air freight alternative for
its urgent
cargo and a first-class service for its ocean shipments from origin to
destination.”
In addition to the fast transit time, APL said Eagle Express
X offers a time-guaranteed transit, attractive origin cutoff times and 100
percent guaranteed space and
equipment.
When EXX inbound containers are discharged at the
Eagle
Marine Service (EMS) terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, they are
immediately loaded onto specially reserved smart chassis and directly
parked in a dedicated EXX yard within the terminal for same-day
availability. Exclusive EXX gates have been established and no
appointments are necessary.
Additionally, the service is supported by what APL calls white-glove customer service teams.
The Port of Los Angeles said the EXX service will soon benefit from its
Port Optimizer portal that it has developed in partnership with GE
Transportation.