Maersk Sealand adds 9th transpacific link

Maersk Sealand adds 9th transpacific link

   Maersk Sealand will launch a ninth transpacific weekly container service mid-July, as part of a major reshuffle and expansion of its transpacific ship network.

   The new five-ship transpacific service, called “TP9,” will start with the sailing of the 1,730-TEU “Merkur Delta” from Kobe on July 13. The weekly service will eventually employ vessels of 3,000-TEU capacities, a spokesman for the Danish mega-carrier told American Shipper.

   The additional Pacific service has a rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Kobe, Los Angeles, Oakland, Dutch Harbor, Yokohama, Busan and Ningbo. Maersk Sealand now operates eight transpacific weekly services with its own ships, and takes space on a ninth loop, the “WAE” service of Evergreen.

   The comparative transit times of Maersk Sealand for the new and revised services are posted on the ComPair Data global liner-shipping database at http://www.compairdata.com . Maersk Sealand also recently upgraded its “TP8” transpacific loop from fortnightly to weekly.