APL CEO_Lars Kastrup receiving the Best Shipping Line in the Trans-Pacific Award at AFLAS 2019

APL CEO Lars Kastrup (left) receiving the award at AFLAS 2019

For the third year in a row, APL, part of the CMA CGM Group, was named the ‘Best Shipping Line in the Trans-Pacific’ at the 2019 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards in Hong Kong last night (17 June).

Voted by industry stakeholders, customers, global shippers and readers of Asia Cargo News, the award illustrates their belief in APL as the ocean carrier choice in the Trans-Pacific trade, APL said in a statement.

The Singapore-headquartered shipping line last year reported 6 per cent year-on-year volume growth in its Asia-North America network thanks to a raft of new services.

'Last August, APL injected X-factor into its Trans-Pacific service portfolio with the Eagle Express X (EXX) service,' APL said in a statement. 'The premium offering, with its fast 11-day ocean transit from Shanghai to Los Angeles, proposes numerous advantages such as promise of guaranteed equipment and space; same-day cargo availability at the Los Angeles (LA) terminal; and a white glove customer care.

'In fact, the fully APL-operated EXX service has been outperforming the industry in schedule reliability, delivering an average on-time performance of 91.3 per cent, versus the industry average of 41.9 per cent on the Trans-Pacific West Coast from September 2018 to March 2019.'

APL also introduced the EXX RailFlash to expedite cargoes on rail to Chicago, Memphis, Dallas and Kansas City from the port of LA.

With its EXX service and its US flagged Eagle Express (EX1) service, APL operates a Trans-Pacific portfolio of 24 services that connect Asia to North America East Coast and West Coast; as well as Guam and Saipan.

APL is a leading ocean carrier providing container shipping and terminal services, as well as intermodal operations supported by IT and ecommerce.

APL offers transcontinental cargo shipping across Asia, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Australia through more than 120 weekly services calling ports in over 70 countries worldwide.

The container shipping line is part of the CMA CGM Group, a leading worldwide shipping group founded in 1978 by the late Jacques R. Saadé and now headed by Rodolphe Saadé.