HMM to open fastest shipping route from S.Korea to Indonesia

South Korea's HMM Co. on Tuesday said it will open a direct route connecting Busan with the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Surabaya.

The revamped Intra-Asia Cross Network (ICN) is the fastest route connecting South Korea and Indonesia, taking about seven days from Busan to Jakarta and Surabaya. Launched exclusively by the company in May, ICN service will begin on Oct. 9 through the reshuffle.

This service uses six 1,700 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container ships on a connecting route to Indonesia (String 2) and another to Vietnam and Thailand (String 1).

Shaped like a pendulum that crosses two routes, the ports of call on the connecting route (String 2) to Indonesia are Incheon, Qingdao (China), Busan (North Port), Jakarta, Surabaya, Busan (New Port), Busan (North Port), Shanghai (China) and Ningbo (China). That to Vietnam and Thailand (String 1) has several other ports of call and its course is Busan (North Port), Shanghai, Ningbo, Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Laem Chabang (Thailand), Incheon, Qingdao and Busan (North Port).

To improve its service to the Philippines, HMM from Oct. 10 will expand its route linking Tianjin, China, and the archipelago.

For this route, four 4,600 TEU container ships will be used in going from Busan (North Port), Busan (New Port), Dalian (China), Tianjin, Qingdao, Busan (New Port), Busan (North Port), Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Manila (Philippines) and Busan (North Port). Dalian, Tianjin, and Ningbo are newly added ports of call on this route.

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com