SITC has joined OOCL as the second slot charterer on Regional Container Lines' new weekly RSK3 service, a four-port Southern China–Cambodia–Thailand loop rotating Nansha – Shekou – Sihanoukville – Songkhla – Nansha.

The arrangement places SITC into the same vessel-sharing pool as RCL and OOCL. SITC's slot allocation covers three of the four calls — Nansha, Shekou and Sihanoukville — and explicitly excludes Songkhla in southern Thailand, which stays within RCL and OOCL coverage. OOCL will market its share under the China Cambodia Thailand Service 4 (CCT4) banner while retaining the full rotation.

What does the RSK3 rotation cover?

The RSK3 string runs weekly on a clockwise circuit starting at Nansha, calling at Shekou, then Sihanoukville in Cambodia, then Songkhla in southern Thailand, before returning to Nansha.

SITC's booking applies to Nansha, Shekou and Sihanoukville. The Songkhla call sits outside SITC's allocation and will be served exclusively by RCL and OOCL.

What does SITC gain — and what does it forgo?

The slot agreement extends SITC's presence on the South China–Cambodia lane without committing to a new vessel purchase. Slot charters remain SITC's preferred way to scale coverage on smaller regional strings.

Skipping Songkhla keeps SITC out of the southern Thailand trade, where RCL runs direct services. Avoiding the Thai call preserves the partnership balance: each operator stays inside its own commercial lanes rather than competing head-on for the same port pair.

Why does the deal matter for shippers and forwarders?

Three carriers now sell identical port pairs on the same vessels from Nansha and Shekou to Sihanoukville. For shippers, that concentration compresses the quoting field. Forwarders booking ex-Nansha or ex-Shekou cargo to Cambodia will receive identical schedules and transit times from three separate sales desks, whichever operator they contract.

For Songkhla-bound cargo, the field narrows to two operators. RCL and OOCL continue to offer the full rotation, including Songkhla, while SITC's allocation does not extend there. Forwarders shipping into southern Thailand therefore have fewer direct counterparts on the RSK3 string than they do on the Cambodian leg.

What to watch next

The arrangement sets up a three-way test on capacity discipline. If SITC, RCL and OOCL maintain the rotation on the existing vessel count, the slot structure will hold and competition will stay concentrated at the booking desk. Any addition of tonnage to the string, or a shift in OOCL's CCT4 marketing footprint, would reset how SITC positions itself in the South China–Cambodia trades through the next sailing schedule.