Ocean cargo: OceanGuranteed introduces service linking China to Canada

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 7/31/2008

SAN FRANCISCO—Shippers seeking an alternative to air cargo for the China-Canada market were told yesterday that OceanGuaranteedmay be just the ticket. According to spokesmen for APL Logistics and Con-way Freight, OceanGuaranteed has now grown to nine departure points in Asia. 

“The demand was driven by a diverse number of manufacturers in the apparel and health care industries,” said Jim Gray, vice president of sales for Con-way. “They had been battered by rising air cargo rates, and asked us we would be expanding our North American operations.”

Gray told LM in an interview following the announcement that APL and Con-way were also relieved to learn that a Pacific Rim waterfront labor slowdown was unlikely to occur now that a tentative contract has been signed with management.

“But we were ready to go public with this news anyway,” he said. “The timing was purely coincidental.”

OceanGuaranteed^, which offers guaranteed delivery from Asia to the U.S. for less than containerload (LCL) cargo, has also opened its first inland point of origin in Asia -- Guangzhou, China. From its creation in 2006, OceanGuaranteed has now grown to nine departure points in Asia. 

At inception, OceanGuaranteed provided service from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China, to all continental U.S. destinations served by Con-way Freight.  New services were later added from Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Yokohama, Japan; Singapore and Busan, Korea.

With this latest expansion, shippers sourcing in China’s Pearl River Delta can use OceanGuaranteed from Guangzhou, 160 miles west of Shenzhen. APL Logistics takes care of the secure transport from Guangzhou to the load port of Hong Kong. 

Shippers  can now also ship their cargo to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

According to spokesmen, rates for the service are about 25 percent of those for airfreight, considered the most reliable form of LCL cargo delivery.