The switch to Hamburg on four transatlantic loops will shift roughly 500,000 TEUs annually, 9 percent of Bremerhaven’s throughput.
The container carrier members of THE Alliance — Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming — are considering swapping calls at Bremerhaven for Hamburg on their joint transatlantic services, according to a recent customer advisory from Hapag-Lloyd.
The advisory said the move, tentatively scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018, would allow THE Alliance to offer customers “better and direct access to the local market in the Hamburg area, as well as faster and more frequent connections to many destinations in the hinterland.”
At present, none of the THE Alliance members’ online sailing schedules reflect the change from Bremerhaven to Hamburg. A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd said that although the decision has not been made yet, the probability of the switch in calls is “high.”
According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the group currently has four transatlantic loops calling at Bremerhaven: the AL1, AL2, AL3 and AL4.
The AL1 operates with four Yang Ming vessels with an average capacity of 4,662 TEUs and a current port rotation of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, London, Norfolk, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Halifax and Rotterdam.
The AL2 operates with four ONE vessels with an average capacity of 4,992 TEUs and a current port rotation of Le Havre, London, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, New York/New Jersey, Charleston, Savannah and Le Havre.
The AL3 operates with five Hapag-Lloyd vessels with an average capacity of 3,207 TEUs and a current port rotation of Antwerp, Bremerhaven, London, Charleston, Port Everglades, Houston, Savannah, Norfolk and Antwerp.
The AL4 operates with six vessels, four from Hapag-Lloyd and two from ONE, with an average capacity of 5,520 TEUs and a current port rotation of London, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, New Orleans and London.
Non-alliance member Atlantic Container Line (ACL) purchases slots on the AL1, AL2 and AL3 services, and StreamLines takes space on the AL2 and AL3.
Alphaliner estimates the four services account for roughly 500,000 TEUs per year, or 9 percent of Bremerhaven’s total annual throughput, and says the loss of those calls would deal a “major blow” to the German port.
The move would be welcome news for in-country rival Hamburg, however, which recently reported a 4.9 percent decline in overall volumes for the first half of 2018.
Container throughput at the port slipped 2.7 percent year-over-year to 4.3 million TEUs during the first six months of the year, according to port officials, which attributed the decrease primarily to a 15.6 percent drop in empty box volumes. Loaded containers, by comparison, were down just 0.6 percent to 3.8 million TEUs compared with the same six-month period last year.
“A glance at the throughput trend for loaded and empty containers in the first six months shows that the Port of Hamburg handled less transhipment cargo and empty boxes,” Axel Mattern, joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing, said of the results. “Its share of loaded containers remained stable in a tough competitive field, while Hamburg’s significance as Europe’s leading rail port was underlined by distinct growth in railborne container transport.”
Containers transported by rail climbed 5.4 percent in the first half to 1.2 million TEUs.
“Against the background of the still outstanding adjustment of the fairway on the Lower and Outer Elbe, it is understandable that shipping companies should utilize slot capacities on mega-containerships calling at Hamburg primarily for loaded boxes,” added Mattern. “Unlike cargo bound for the local region and loaded boxes, transhipment cargo and empty containers are less tied to specific ports. We therefore hope that planning permission will be granted before the end of the year, and the fairway adjustment finally implemented after a wait of 17 years.”
In non-containerized cargoes, bulk volumes at the Port of Hamburg fell 10.4 percent year-over-year to 21.1 million tons in the first half, while automobile volumes more than doubled, rising 106.4 percent to 25,000 tons.
THE Alliance swaps German ports
