Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has unveiled its new direct service Asia, Latin West Express (WLX), through its representative Kenrick Maritime Agency in Chile.

The new service, which began operations on 15 August from Chile, has a new weekly capacity, implying a fairly significant representation in Chile growth. And with the implementation of WLX, nearly triple its previous availability, with landfalls in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, and from there, to a range of ports in Asia.

The presentation was attended, S.C. Lee, manager of Emerging Trade Hyundai- Seoul, in charge of new business for Latin America, David J. Arsenault, ceo and president of the company for the Americas and Richard von Appen, president of Ultramar.

Matias Murillo, Chile HMM Line manager, explained that this new offer comes after a deep restructuring of shipping services in Asia, the context in which HMM decided to integrate its capabilities with two new strategic partners. "This is a service that has nine ships of around 4,700 teu on average, where Hyundai brings three own ships covering the west coast of South America," he explained.

The executive also said that given the current market conditional, "our strategy is to strengthen the quality of service to our customers, as we see it is the way to make a difference in today's competitive market. All services are offered to Asia are now very similar in terms of destinations on offer. Therefore, it is essential to have a quick, efficient and first class response to the requirements of our customers and remain very close to them in the daily form," he said.

Meanwhile Richard von Appen, Chile’s Ultramar president, said HMM "is a company with whom we have a relationship for many years and this new service shows the commitment they have with the country and the west coast of South America and a long-term vision, beyond the situation in which the future it is expected that exports and imports on the continent will continue to increase."