Wan Hai Lines Plans to Restart Vietnam–West India CI8 Service in Late November

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 30, Wan Hai Lines announced plans to restart its CI8 service in late November 2026, deploying 2,800–3,000 TEU container ships with a round-trip cycle of 35 days. The service was previously operated in April 2021, when four 2,100 TEU vessels were deployed, calling at Hong Kong, Nansha, Cai Mep, Port Klang North, Nhava Sheva, and Colombo. The 2026 version features adjustments to both vessel size and port rotation. Late November is the planned launch window.

The port rotation for the 2026 version is: Haiphong, Qinzhou, Nansha, Shekou, Port Klang North, Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Port Klang North, Haiphong. Compared with the 2021 version, Haiphong, Qinzhou, and Mundra have been added, while Hong Kong, Cai Mep, and Colombo have been removed; the India segment has been changed from "Nhava Sheva–Colombo" to "Mundra–Nhava Sheva," calling at Mundra first and then Nhava Sheva. Port Klang North remains a call on both the outbound and return legs, serving as a transshipment connection point.

The term "direct service" refers to cargo being transported from the port of origin to the port of destination within the same service, and the port rotation includes intermediate calls—it is not a non-stop point-to-point direct sailing. This definition comes from the explicit explanation of "direct service" in the original Maritime Gateway text, to prevent readers from misinterpreting "direct service" as "non-stop."

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone announced in September 2026 the construction of a dedicated empty container yard and supporting warehousing within the port, planned to handle approximately 1.6 million TEU of empty containers annually, for storage, maintenance, inspection, and repositioning of empty containers to exporters and container freight stations. The yard is an independent infrastructure project within the port and was not announced specifically for CI8; however, empty container availability is a prerequisite for the service's export operations—without suitable empty containers available for pickup at the right location, vessel capacity alone cannot meet shippers' needs.