At 15:00 on January 27, a train carrying 84 TEUs of export goods for sea-rail intermodal freight departed from Jinhua South Railway Station and headed for Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. This is the first time that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC),a world leader in global container shipping, has opened a line for sea-rail intermodal freight at the multimodal transport hub in Central Zhejiang.

The products, such as outdoor leisure products and wheels, will go through Jinhua’s integrated customs declaration and clearance. They will then be directly loaded into MSC’s reserved space at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and exported to the United States and Europe.

“In the past, several shipping companies shared trains for sea-rail intermodal freight in Jinhua. MSC had extended its business to the Jinhua-Yiwu section of the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. This is the first time that one shipping company has opened a line for sea-rail intermodal freight in Jinhua,” said Luo Jianyuan, deputy general manager of Zhejiang International Logistics Development Co., Ltd.

Jinhua ranked second in Zhejiang in terms of total annual export volume in 2020, and exported abundant goods to the Americas, Africa, and Europe through sea transportation. With the opening of the Yiwu-Ningbo-Zhoushan Corridor and its western extension, some international shipping giants have begun to assemble goods at the Jinhua and Yiwu railway stations.

The overseas spread of COVID-19 has seriously affected the global shipping market and ports of various countries. As China’s pandemic has been effectively controlled, domestic companies’ exports of goods and their demand for containers surged. Strengthening the tripartite cooperation among shipping companies, ports, and trade companies can help to alleviate problems such as the shortage of containers and the lack of shipping space, so as to improve the efficiency of integrated customs declaration and clearance, and further reduce logistics costs.

The rapid growth of Jinhua’s exports has stimulated the growth of the business volume of Jinhua’s sea-rail intermodal freight. According to statistics, the average annual growth rate of the business volume in the last five years reached 37.6%. In 2020, Jinhua-Ningbo-Zhoushan Port shipped 35,000 TEUs via sea-rail intermodal transportation.

Before the operation of the train on January 27, MSC had already carried out in-depth cooperation with Jinhua. MSC’s carrying capacity accounted for more than 17% of Jinhua’s total shipping capacity, ranking first among all international shipping companies in Jinhua. MSC is also the first shipping company to operate trains for sea-rail intermodal freight at Jinhua South Railway Station.

In order to cope with the peak season for exports right before Spring Festival, Jinhua Railway Logistics Center has cooperated with Jinhua Sea-Rail Intermodal Transportation Platform to give full play to the safety and efficiency of sea-rail intermodal transportation, and further improve the shipping frequency of these trains at Jinhua-Ningbo-Zhoushan Port.

At the same time, the platform has customized logistics solutions for its customers, allocated transport capacity appropriately, and strengthened information feedback, which helps shipping companies to capture the Jinhua export market, accurately meet the needs of foreign trade factories, and continuously improve the services of ports, railway stations, and trains for sea-rail intermodal transportation. (By Xu Chaohui, photographed by Hu Xiaofei, translated by Jin Haiqiong, edited by Kendra Fiddler)

义甬舟开放大通道西延结硕果国际航运巨头把“舱位”搬到金华

1月27日15时，装载84个标准集装箱出口货物的海铁联运专列从铁路金华南货站鸣笛启程，驶向宁波舟山港。

这是国际航运巨头地中海航运公司（MSC）首次在浙中多式联运港开行整列海铁联运专列。专列装载的户外休闲用品、汽车轮毂等产品，将享受金华海关报关、通关一体化便利，在宁波舟山港直接装上地中海航运巨轮的预定舱位，出口到美国和欧洲。

“过去金华平台开行的海铁联运专列，都是由多家船公司货源拼装的。像地中海航运这样把触角伸向浙江自贸区金义片区，由一家船公司在金华开行海铁联运专列，还是第一次。”市交投集团浙中国际物流发展有限公司副总经理罗建源介绍。

我市是年出口总量位居全省第二的出口大市，海运出口美洲、非洲、欧洲等货源丰富。借助义甬舟开放大通道及西延通道，近年来国际航运巨头开始直接在金华、义乌两大铁路口岸设点组货。

海外加剧的疫情，给全球海运市场和各国港口带来严重冲击。而国内疫情复苏后，出口货物急剧上升，集装箱需求随之猛增。通过加强船港企三方合作，可以为出口客户缓解集装箱箱源难求、舱位紧张等问题，有助于提高一体化通关效率，进一步降低企业出口物流成本。

伴随着我市外贸出口的快速增长，金华海铁联运班列平台业务量出现高增长势头。相关数据显示，近5年来年均增幅高达37.6%。2020年“金华—宁波舟山港”海铁联运班列共发送标准集装箱3.5万个。

此次专列开行之前，地中海航运已与金华平台展开深度合作，承运箱量占平台发送总箱量的17%以上，在所有国际船公司中位列第一。地中海航运也是首个入驻铁路金华南货站开行海铁专列的船公司。

为抢抓节前出口交货高峰，铁路金华货运中心协同金华海铁联运平台，发挥海铁联运安全、高效优势，进一步提高“金华-宁波舟山港”海铁联运班列发运密度。

同时，平台为客户量身定制物流方案，合理调配运力，强化信息反馈，助力船公司将揽货触角深向金华出口市场前沿，精准对接外贸工厂需求，不断完善港口、场站和海铁联运班列的服务功能。(记者徐朝晖/文 胡肖飞/摄)