HONOLULU (AP) - Shipping company Horizon Lines Inc. says its vessels will no longer deliver cargo from the U.S. West Coast to Guam, and then bring Chinese exports to the U.S. West Coast on a return trip across the Pacific.
The Charlotte, NC-based company says the move will allow it to focus on its domestic shipping services and become more profitable.
Horizon said Monday eastbound freight rates from China dropped 37 percent in past year to the lowest level since the 2008-2009 recession even as fuel prices jumped 40 percent.
The company launched the service last December. Going east, Horizon's vessels pick up goods in Ningbo and Shanghai and take them to Los Angeles and Oakland. Heading west, the vessels depart the West Coast for Guam, Micronesia and the Northern Mariana Islands.