Since the beginning of the month, Dubai-based ESL has discontinued its “Sun Chief Express” (SCX) service. This connected the Vietnamese ports of Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong with the southern Chinese port of Shekou and with Seattle on the US West Coast.
The service was originally launched in April 2022 by Swire Shipping for the US Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) UWL to provide a direct link between Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Seattle. The service was operated every two weeks and was initially served by three vessels with capacities of 2,380 to 2,750 TEU from Swire Shipping’s fleet.
In July 2025, ESL took over the service from Swire and also deployed three vessels. UWL occupied all slot capacities from Vietnam, while ESL provided additional ad-hoc slots from Shekou. The last SCX voyage will be operated by the 2,381 TEU unit “ESL Mombasa”. The vessel is scheduled to depart Ho Chi Minh City on March 20 and reach Seattle on April 7.
ESL now making a U-turn
According to the container analysis company Linerlytica, the discontinuation of the SCX service represents a U-turn from an earlier decision by ESL and UWL on December 16, 2025, when both partners announced that they would expand the service to a weekly connection with six ships from June.
UWL had previously canceled a planned departure on 6 March from Ho Chi Minh City with the 2,554 TEU vessel “Apollon D”. The company cited “unusually weak market expectations and an unprecedented seasonal decline in transport volumes” as the reason for this. Two additional departures that were planned for April are currently still under review.
Drewry’s World Container Index shows that the spot rate on the Shanghai-Los Angeles route fell to $2,191 per FEU as of February 26. This corresponds to a year-on-year decline of 37% and a fall of 1% compared to the previous week.
