China opens sea route to carry southern fruits to north
( 2002-09-06 17:06 ) (8 )

A new sea transport route from the port of Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province, to north China was opened to expand the market for southern fruits and vegetables.

China International Ocean Shipping Container Company (COSCO), China's flagship container handler, announced Friday that the route was launched by its Guangzhou branch.

It links the western areas of Guangdong, a major producer of fruit and vegetables in China, with north and northeast areas where the produce is in great demand.

Two ships, traveling at about 15 nautical miles(27.75 kilometres) per hour, will run a shuttle service, taking four days to reach Dalian, then Tianjin. From there, the cargoes will be distributed.

The freighters, each with over 10,000 tonnes of capacity, will be refrigerated to keep the produce fresh.

Compared with traditional road or container transportation, the new route will cut costs by 20 to 30 percent, which will lower the cost of southern fruits in the northern markets.