MOL Ties Up Tokyo and Sendai with New Feeder Service

Tokyo-based shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) launched a domestic feeder service between Tokyo and the port of Sendai, Miyagi on February 16, 2016.

According to the company, the new service will offer frequent connections between the two ports, while connecting with MOL’s global network through Tokyo and further enhancing MOL’s reefer service.

The port rotation of the new feeder service is Sendai on Tuesdays – Tokyo on Thursdays – Sendai on Fridays, with a turn around of four days.

MOL said that the Japanese-flagged 1,829 dwt cargo ship MV Hyogo started working on the new service from February 16.

The company recently got its outlook changed by Moody’s rating agency from stable to negative due to weaker expectation in the container shipping market in 2016.

Dry bulk and container shipping woes pushed down MOL to recorded net profit of JPY 13.2 billion (USD 110 million), plunging from last year’s JPY 24.8 billion.

For the full year, the company predicts its loss to deepen to JPY 175 billion (USD 1.45 billion), considerably higher from the previously announced JPY 17 billion.