Coscon and CMA CGM are joining forces to launch a new service named MEX11, which will link the mainland and southeast Asia to four direct ports in the west Mediterranean.

A joint company statement said seven vessels with capacities of 3,500 TEU and 4,000 TEU will be deployed on the new service with Coscon providing five of the ships, while the other two will come from CMA CGM.

The vessels will call at: Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Port Kelang, Naples, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Qingdao.

The first ship, the Empress Phoenix, will leave Qingdao on March 9.

The statement explained that the service is exclusively dedicated to the trade between China/south Asia and the west Mediterranean and will offer "unbeatable" transit time to Italy and Spain, connecting Hong Kong to Naples in 17 days, Shanghai to Genoa in 21, and Shanghai to Barcelona in 23 days.