China United Lines (CULines) has begun trial operations for shipping operations to the Mediterranean region.

Port of calls for the service includes major Chinese ports like Shanghai and Shekou, as well as vital international ports like Haifa — Israel's biggest seaport — Istanbul, and Piraeus.

The Chinese container carrier will initially operate the service using a 4,250 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) vessel calling at the three overseas ports invested and managed by the Chinese entities like Haifa's new port developed and operated by Shanghai International Port (SIPG), Kumport Terminal in Turkey's Ambarli Port Complex, invested by China's two largest port operators Cosco Pacific and China Merchants Holdings (International).

The service will also call at the Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) Piraeus  — one of the largest ports in Europe  — whose majority owner is the Chinese company Cosco Shipping.