The ocean carrier alliance will deploy 10,000-TEU vessels on its new NYX loop between Asia and the U.S. East Coast.
Here come the big ships!
Members of the G6 Alliance – ocean carriers Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL, MOL, NYK, APL and HMM – have announced an alteration of their services through the Panama Canal in anticipation of the opening of the enlarged locks at the end of June.
Spokespersons from APL and MOL said the alliance will deploy neopanamax ships with around 10,000 TEUs of capacity in a new string called the “NYX.” The new loop will focus its calls at ports in Central and North China, Korea and the U.S. East Coast, with a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai (Yangshan), Busan, Panama Canal, Manzanillo (Panama), New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Manzanillo (Panama), Panama Canal, Busan and Qingdao.
The new NYX service will start up in Week 23, shortly before the Panama Canal begins to allow regular transits through the new locks June 27.
Just this week, the Panama Canal began taking reservations for four transits per day through the new locks. The majority of those signing up for reservation slots are containership operators.
Captain Guillermo Manfredo, executive manager for transit operations at the Panama Canal, said, “We are being somewhat conservative regarding the number of booking slots being offered in the initial stages of the operation until we acquire enough experience regarding the operation of the expanded canal.”
“While the canal is initially taking four reservations per day for the new locks, he said, “We will gradually increase the number of booking slots. We are prepared to handle more than four neopanamax vessels per day. The maximum will depend on vessel mix and transit restrictions,” he explained.
“We expect that the initial demand for the new locks will be relatively low, but will gradually increase as our clients feel confident about the operation of the new Canal, until we eventually reach our maximum capacity of approximately 12-13 transits per day (through the new locks).”
Overall, the Panama Canal expects to be able to handle 35-38 vessels each day, including the ships going through the existing locks. Last month, the number of vessels passing through the canal ranged from 26 to 38 vessels.
Citing the enlarged canal and an increase in summer demand, the G6 Alliance announced a slew of changes to its services. In addition to the new NYX service, the alliance will suspend its NYE and SCE services, which it had combined into a single NYE/SCE string as a result of the winter slowdown in container shipping. The last NYE/SCE sailing will be with the Hyundai Dynasty, which is expected to arrive in Xiamen June 2 and Savannah July 4.
The G6 Alliance will also suspend its NCE loop. The last sailing for that service will be the Hyundai Integral, arriving in Busan May 29 and New York July 2.
Other changes announced by the G6 Alliance follow:
• The PA1 will be enhanced with the following new port rotation: Busan, Shanghai (Yangshan), Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, Vancouver, Tacoma, Oakland, Los Angeles, Panama Canal, Manzanillo (Panama), New York, Halifax, Southampton, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Manzanillo (Panama), Panama Canal, Los Angeles, Oakland, Yokohama and Busan
• The PA2 will be enhanced with an additional call to Shanghai, with the following rotation focusing on ports in Asia and the midAtlantic/ Southeast U.S. Coast: Tokyo, Kobe, Busan, Shanghai (Yangshan), Panama Canal, Manzanillo (Panama), Miami, Savannah, Jacksonville, Charleston, Norfolk, Manzanillo (Panama), Panama Canal, Balboa, Los Angeles, Oakland and Tokyo
• The CEC service will include a call in Kaohsiung, resulting in the following rotation: Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shekou, Yantian, Singapore, Suez Canal, New York, Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk, Suez Canal, Jeddah, Singapore, Vung Tau and Kaohsiung
The port rotations of these services will be unchanged:
• AZX: Laem Chabang, Singapore, Colombo, Suez Canal, Damietta, Cagliari, Halifax, New York, Savannah, Norfolk, Halifax, Cagliari, Damietta, Suez Canal, Jebel Ali, Singapore and Laem Chabang
• SVS: Hong Kong, Yantian, Vung Tau, Singapore, Suez Canal, Norfolk, Savannah, Jacksonville, Charleston, Cape of Good Hope/Suez Canal, Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong
The G6 Alliance will resume the CC2 service in week 21, the week of May 23, with the following port rotation: Ningbo, Shanghai (Waigaoqiao), Busan, Long Beach and Ningbo
As a result, the CC4 will resume its original port rotation as a shuttle service between Central China and the U.S. West Coast as follows: Shanghai (Waigaoqiao), Ningbo,Los Angeles, Oakland and Shanghai (Waigaoqiao)
G6 Alliance will begin using neopanamax ships
