Senator Lines says it will join the new China North Express CNX service that Hanjin Shipping and UASC has recently launched.

The Bremen-based container shipping line said in a statement that its participation in the CNX service would strengthen its position in the south China-north west continent trade as the CNX service directly connects Hong Kong to northern Europe.

"The CNX adds a different port rotation to our portfolio while providing an additional link in the scope of the growing Asia-North Europe trade," said JM Koo, Senator's director of lines management.

The port rotation for Hanjin's CNX service will be: Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jeddah, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Jeddah, Singapore and Qingdao.

The first westbound sailing of Senator Lines CNX service starts from Qingdao on November 20 with the departure of the Ibn Asakir. Hanjin's first eastbound voyage on the CNX service will deploy the Hanjin Los Angeles, which is scheduled to depart from Hamburg on December 25.

This development comes after Senator Lines recently launched its new Far East-Middle East service (FMS).

"After the launch of the additional FMS service, providing a link between the strong-growth markets of the Far and Middle East, the upgrade of our Asia-Northern Europe trade line was the logical next step, thereby adjusting our shipping capacity to the growing cargo volumes in this trade," said Mr Koo.