In an industry first, the vessel sharing agreement between Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, NYK, MOL and “K” Line, also established an independent trustee to manage funds to be used in the event one of the carriers within the group becomes insolvent.
THE Alliance, the vessel sharing arrangement between ocean carriers Hapag-Lloyd of Germany, Taiwan’s Yang Ming, and the “Big 3” Japanese lines, NYK, MOL and “K” Line, have provided more details on the port rotations of services they plan to begin operating in April, as well as a contingency plan aimed at preventing the kind of chaos that followed the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping last year.
THE Alliance members said in a joint statement the group will offer 32 services:
• Five between the Far East and North Europe;
• Three between Far East and the Mediterranean;
• One between the Far East and Middle East;
• Three transpacific services to the Pacific Northwest of U.S. and Canada;
• Eight transpacific strings to California ports;
• Five transpacific services to the U.S. East Coast, three of which will use the Panama Canal and two of which will use the Suez Canal;
• And seven transatlantic services to North Europe or the Mediterranean.
The five lines have also fleshed out their rotations to indicate exactly what ports ships will call. In an earlier version of their plans made public in November, in some cases the carriers had used placeholder terms, rather than specific ports. For example, they had said a ship would call a “South East Asia Hub” earlier, whereas today’s announcement specifies Singapore.
One clear winner in the deal is Dubai-based global port terminal operator DP World, which announced vessels from three of THE Alliance’s Far East to Europe services (FE1, FE2, and FE4) and three of its transatlantic services (AL3, AL4, and AL5) will call the DP World Southampton terminal, and two Far East to Europe Services (FE3 and FE5) and two transatlantic service (AL1 and AL2) will call the DP World London Gateway terminal on the Thames River.
The FE3 and FE5 will be the first regular Asia-Europe services to call the massive new DP World London Gateway, which opened in 2013. The terminal is integrated with the DP World London Gateway Logistics Park, which provides nearly one million square meters of supply chain and distribution space for retailers and logistics firms, such as Lidl and UPS, which are already on site.
DP World London Gateway said in a statement it will formally open its third berth for full operations at the end of March.
In addition, THE Alliance members confirmed a contingency plan first outlined in their alliance agreement filed with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission in December. An industry first, the plan covers what actions the carriers would take “in the unlikely event a member of THE Alliance suffers a bankruptcy,” the group said.
“The five member lines will establish an independent trustee to manage funds to be used in the case there is insolvency within the group,” they said. “It is envisioned that the fund will be used to continue alliance operations in the event of insolvency of one or more member lines. The independent trust fund shall safeguard that customers’ cargo on board of the affected members’ ships will be carried to the port of destination.”
The alliance pointed to the need for such an arrangement because of the experience of shippers after the Korean carrier Hanjin Shipping declared bankruptcy last year. That created havoc not only for Hanjin customers, but for those of other members of the CKYHE Alliance as well.
“Customers’ reaction to the incident (the Hanjin bankruptcy) last summer showed a clear demand for such a safety net and the partners of THE Alliance are proud to present the first contingency plan of its kind in liner shipping,” the carriers said.
FMC Commissioner William P. Doyle said in a statement this morning he welcomed the initiative.
“The Hanjin bankruptcy served as a wakeup call to carriers, shippers, and government authorities,” he said. “THE Alliance’s efforts to create a mechanism to keep cargo and commerce flowing in the event of another carrier bankruptcy demonstrates that carriers and alliances have heard the concerns of the shipping public and are working to create commercial solutions to address those concerns. It is far better for the private sector to develop their own commercial safeguards in an industry as complex as shipping, than to have governments come in and dictate regulations.”
The final port rotations of the total 32 services will be as follows:
Asia and North Europe
• FE 1: Kobe – Nagoya – Shimizu – Tokyo – Singapore – Jeddah – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Southampton – Le Havre – Singapore – Kobe
• FE 2: Xingang – Dalian – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Hong Kong – Yantian – Singapore – Tangier – Southampton – Hamburg – Rotterdam – Le Havre – Tangier – Jebel Ali – Hong Kong – Qingdao – Xingang
• FE 3: Hong Kong – Xiamen – Kaohsiung – Yantian – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – London Gateway – Piraeus – Singapore – Hong Kong
• FE 4: Pusan – Ningbo – Shanghai – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Southampton – Shekou – Yantian – Pusan
• FE 5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Singapore – Colombo – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – London Gateway – Jeddah – Colombo – Singapore – Laem Chabang
Asia and the Mediterranean
• MD 1: Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Yantian – Singapore – Damietta – Barcelona – Valencia – Fos – Genoa – Damietta – Singapore – Shekou – Qingdao
• MD 2: Pusan – Ningbo – Shanghai – Kaohsiung – Yantian – Singapore – Jeddah –Genoa – La Spezia – Barcelona – Valencia – Singapore – Hong Kong – Pusan
• MD 3: Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – Yantian – Singapore – Jeddah – Ashdod – Piraeus – Istanbul (Ambarli) – Izmir/Aliaga – Mersin – Jeddah – Singapore – Kaohsiung – Pusan
Asia and the Middle East
• AGX: Pusan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Jebel Ali – Dammam – Jubail – Abu Dhabi – Port Kelang – Singapore – Ningbo – Pusan
Transpacific – West Coast
• PN 1: Qingdao – Shanghai – Nagoya – Tokyo – Tacoma – Vancouver – Tokyo – Nagoya – Kobe – Qingdao
• PN 2: Singapore – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Kaohsiung – Yantian – Tacoma – Vancouver – Tokyo – Kobe – Kaohsiung – Singapore
• PN 3: Hong Kong – Yantian – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Vancouver – Seattle – Pusan – Hong Kong
• PS 1: Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – Sendai – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Tokyo – Nagoya – Kobe
• PS 2: Kobe – Nagoya – Shimizu – Tokyo – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland –Tokyo – Kobe
• PS 3: Singapore – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Hong Kong – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Tokyo – Hong Kong – Singapore
• PS 4: Hong Kong – Yantian – Kaohsiung – Keelung – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Keelung – Kaohsiung – Da Chan Bay – Hong Kong
• PS 5: Shanghai – Ningbo – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Shanghai
• PS 6: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Pusan – Qingdao
• PS 7: Xiamen – Hong Kong – Yantian – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Xiamen
• PS 8: Dalian – Xingang – Qingdao – Pusan – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Pusan – Kwangyang – Dalian
Transpacific – East Coast (via Panama and Suez)
• EC 1: Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Tokyo – (Panama Canal) – Manzanillo – Savannah – Jacksonville – Charleston – Norfolk – Miami (Seasonal) – Manzanillo – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Tokyo – Kobe – Ningbo
• EC 2: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – (Panama Canal) – New York – Boston – Wilmington – Savannah – (Panama Canal) – Pusan – Qingdao
• EC 3: Kaohsiung – Xiamen – Hong Kong – Yantian – Shanghai – (Panama Canal) – Savannah – Norfolk – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Pusan – Kaohsiung
• EC 4: Kaohsiung – Hong Kong – Yantian – Cai Mep – Singapore – (Suez Canal) – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Jacksonville – Charleston – (Suez Canal) – Singapore – Kaohsiung
• EC 5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Singapore – Colombo – (Suez Canal) – Halifax – New York – Savannah – Norfolk – Halifax – (Suez Canal) – Jebel Ali – Singapore – Laem Chabang
Transatlantic
• AL 1: Bremerhaven – Antwerp – London Gateway – Norfolk – Philadelphia – New York – Halifax – Bremerhaven
• AL 2: London Gateway – Le Havre – Rotterdam – Bremerhaven – New York – Charleston – London Gateway
• AL 3: Antwerp – Bremerhaven – Southampton – Charleston – Savannah – Port Everglades – Houston – Savannah – Norfolk – Antwerp
• AL 4: Southampton – Antwerp – Bremerhaven – Le Havre – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – New Orleans – Mobile – Southampton
• AL 5: Southampton – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Savannah – Cartagena – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Seattle/Tacoma – Vancouver – Oakland – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Balboa – Cartagena – Caucedo – Savannah – Southampton
• AL 6: Salerno – Livorno – La Spezia – Genoa – FOS – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Salerno
• AL 7: Barcelona – Tarragona – Valencia – Algeciras – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Valencia – Tarragona – Barcelona
