APL, Cheng Lie Navigation to Merge Intra-Asia Service

The container transportation and shipping company American President Lines Ltd (APL) announced the proposed acquisition of the book of business of its sister company Cheng Lie Navigation (CNC), Taiwan's Intra-Asia carrier.

With this, APL will consolidate all its Intra-Asia business under the CNC brand to be operated from Singapore, retaining both sales networks and all sales channels.

“This strategic move will enable us to become the Intra-Asia Champion with the most comprehensive market connectivity in the Far East. With complementary market footprints, the combined portfolio of services is set to shore-up our relevance in the economically-thriving Asia through the CNC brand ahead,” said Nicolas Sartini, APL Chief Executive Officer.

Today, there are 15 APL and 50 CNC weekly services that serve the key markets from North Asia to Southeast Asia along the Far East corridor. Complementing each other, their combined network will offer one of the most comprehensive networks in Intra-Asia. CNC has a significant presence across Asia including Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Sartini elaborated, “We have ambitious volume targets and market development plans for Intra-Asia that we will seek organically and via strategic acquisitions. As the Intra-Asia specialist, we will continue to customise our portfolio of services according to shippers’ demand and where the markets will shift tomorrow.”