Evergreen and RCL sign on to new Far East–East Africa service

Evergreen and Regional Container Lines (RCL) will join Emirates Shipping Line and Interasia Lines on a new Far East–East Africa container service, giving the trade four co-loading carriers under four separate brand names. The first sailing departs Qingdao on 5 December 2026, according to shipping intelligence provider Linerlytica.

The vessel sharing arrangement turns what began as a solo Emirates Shipping Line project into a four-party operation. Emirates Shipping Line had already announced the loop as FAX2, part of its push to widen its Asia–East Africa connections. The addition of Evergreen, Interasia and RCL now supplies the wider commercial base that the route to Mombasa needs.

Each carrier will market the same ships under its own code. Linerlytica lists the service as FAX2 for Emirates Shipping Line, AEF6 for Evergreen, EA3 for Interasia Lines and REA3 for RCL.

What ports does the loop call?

The rotation strings together three major Chinese gateways, one Southeast Asian transhipment hub and Kenya's main ocean gateway:

• Qingdao
• Ningbo
• Nansha
• Port Klang (Malaysia)
• Mombasa (Kenya)
• back to Qingdao

The routing gives shippers direct Far East coverage across northern, central and southern China — Qingdao, Ningbo and Nansha respectively — before a Port Klang call that opens relay connections through Malaysia. Mombasa, the region's dominant port, sits at the end of the leg, and the loop then returns north in a 49-day round voyage.

What tonnage is being deployed?

Linerlytica reports seven container vessels on the service, ranging from 2,700 to 4,200 TEU. That mid-size bracket fits the draft and berth constraints of the East Africa trade, where port infrastructure limits the economies of scale that megaships deliver on mainline east-west lanes.

The first scheduled vessel is the 2,824 TEU HIRANYA BHUM, which will set the pattern for the December launch out of Qingdao.

Why does a four-carrier set-up matter?

For shippers, four sales channels on one string typically means more frequent booking options and competitive pricing on a lane that has historically relied on fewer direct connections. Each carrier sells the same slots under its own brand, so cargo owners in China, Malaysia and Kenya can contract with whichever line fits their existing relationships.

For the carriers, sharing the seven-ship commitment spreads the capital and operational risk. No single operator carries the full cost of a 49-day rotation across two continents. Evergreen gains an East Africa extension to its network, RCL extends beyond its Asian strongholds, and Emirates Shipping Line secures the partner capacity that its FAX2 announcement had implied.

The structure also signals confidence in demand on the Far East–East Africa corridor. Consumer goods imports into Kenya and the wider East African Community flow overwhelmingly through Mombasa, and Chinese exports drive the headhaul. A new direct loop with Chinese port coverage at Qingdao, Ningbo and Nansha shortens transit relative to transhipment-dependent routings.

With first departure less than a year away, attention now shifts to whether the four lines can fill seven ships on the lane — and whether additional carriers follow Evergreen and RCL into the arrangement as the December 2026 launch approaches.