Ocean carriers say moves will provide more efficient transits and increased reliability.
Two of the major container shipping alliances — the 2M Alliance of Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co., as well as THE Alliance of Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming — announced this week changes to their services they will make in 2019.
MSC and Maersk have announced plans for a revised ocean network to more efficiently transit between Asia and Europe.
“We can only assume that container terminal congestion at the main ports of the trade will continue to worsen, leading us to anticipate and incorporate longer time buffers in the schedule in terms of port stays and speed at sea,” said MSC.
“MSC will phase in additional vessels to existing loops on the trade. Deploying these extra assets on our services underscores our commitment to operating a stable and ever-improving network within the existing constraints facing all carriers, such as congestion, bad weather and other unexpected disruptions.”
MSC said, “Implementation of the new network is planned for early March 2019 and remains subject to further updates.” It plans to further unveil specific transit times and departure days in the future.
MSC posted a chart of the 2019 Asia-Europe rotations here.
Maersk said, “The enhancements build on the Asia-Europe network changes in May 2018 which enabled Maersk to regain a market-leading position on schedule reliability.
“To meet our customers’ increasing need for reliable cargo delivery, we have reviewed our service network and identified additional time to recover from the potential delays we continue to face from bad weather and other external factors. I am confident that these service changes will improve our overall schedule reliability, and I look forward to service our customers with this upgraded product,” says Johan Sigsgaard, head of Europe trade for A.P. Møller – Maersk.
Maersk said it “will enable extra operational buffer time from a net reduction of eight port calls in the network. The reductions are achieved with minimal impact to product offerings — through combining duplicate calls and competitive transshipment options. This will result in significantly improved schedule reliability, enabled by slightly prolonged, yet competitive transit times.”
Maersk added six vessels across the 10 service strings in the network, with weekly deployed capacity remaining unchanged due to slower vessel speeds.
On its third-quarter conference call, Maersk announced that it would be adding vessels to services and slow-steaming to save on bunker costs and increase reliability. While MSC has specified that the added vessels are being deployed to account for unforeseen delays, it also could be positioning for the 2020 sulfur cap.
In addition, THE Alliance has announced plans for improvements in 2019, focusing on addressing customer needs in greater reliability and stability in services.
ONE said, “Members of THE Alliance — Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming — announced the details of their revamped service network for 2019. THE Alliance will deploy a fleet of more than 249 modern ships connecting 76 ports throughout Asia, North Europe, the Mediterranean, North America, Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and Red Sea.”
The largest revamp by THE Alliance is the unveiling of a Pendulum service to replace the FE1, PS1, PS2 and PN4 services. The pendulum service will cater to customer needs for more capacity and improved port pairs. The improvements are focused on services that travel on east-to-west trade lanes and are pending acceptance by the necessary regulatory approvals.
A full list of THE Alliances revamped services may be found below.
Asia and North Europe
FE1: From TPWC – Tokyo – Shimizu – Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – Singapore – (Suez Canal) – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Southampton – Le Havre – (Suez Canal) – Singapore – Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – to TPWC.
FE2: Pusan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Hong Kong – Yantian – Singapore – (Suez Canal) – Southampton – Hamburg – Rotterdam – (Suez Canal) – Jebel Ali – Singapore – Pusan.
FE3: Hong Kong – Xiamen – Kaohsiung – Yantian – (Suez Canal) – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – London Gateway – (Suez Canal) – Singapore – Hong Kong.
FE4: Ningbo – Shanghai – (Suez Canal) – Le Havre – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Southampton – (Suez Canal) – Yantian – Ningbo.
FE5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Singapore – Colombo – (Suez Canal) – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Southampton – (Suez Canal) – Jeddah – Colombo – Singapore – Laem Chabang.
Asia and the Mediterranean
MD1: Qingdao – Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China – Singapore – Jeddah – (Suez Canal) – Damietta – Barcelona – Valencia – Tangier – Genoa – Damietta – (Suez Canal) – Jeddah – Singapore – Hong Kong – Qingdao.
MD2: Pusan – Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Kaohsiung – South China – Singapore – (Suez Canal) – Piraeus – La Spezia – Genoa – Fos – Piraeus – (Suez Canal) – Singapore – Hong Kong – Pusan.
MD3: Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China – Singapore – Jeddah – (Suez Canal) – Ashdod – Istanbul – Izmit – Aliaga – Mersin – (Suez Canal) – Jeddah – Singapore – Kaohsiung – Pusan.
Asia and the Middle East / Red Sea
AG2: Shanghai – Ningbo – Kaohsiung – Xiamen – Shekou – Port Kelang – Jebel Ali – Hamad – Umm Qasar – Hamad – Jebel Ali – Port Kelang – Kaohsiung – Shanghai.
AR1: Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Port Kelang – Jeddah – Aqaba – Sokhna – Jeddah – Singapore – Pusan.
Transpacific — West Coast
PN1: Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Pusan – Prince Rupert – Tacoma – Vancouver – Tokyo – Kobe – Qingdao.
PN2: Singapore – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Haiphong – Yantian – Tacoma – Vancouver – Kaohsiung – Singapore.
PN3: Hong Kong – Yantian – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Vancouver – Seattle – Pusan – Kwangyang – Hong Kong.
PN4: Xiamen – Kaohsiung – Nagoya – Tokyo – Tacoma – Vancouver – Tokyo – Nagoya – Kobe – Xiamen.
PS1: From Europe – Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Tokyo – Shimizu – Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – Singapore – Europe.
PS3: Nhava Sheva – Pipavav – Colombo – Port Kelang – Singapore – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Port Kelang – Nhava Sheva.
PS4: Hong Kong – Yantian – Kaohsiung – Keelung – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Keelung – Kaohsiung – Hong Kong.
PS5: Shanghai – Pusan – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Pusan – Shanghai.
PS6: Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Tokyo – Qingdao.
PS7: Xiamen – Hong Kong – Yantian – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Kobe – Xiamen.
Transpacific — East Coast (via Panama Canal and Suez Canal)
EC1: Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Tokyo – (Panama Canal) – Manzanillo – Savannah – Jacksonville – Charleston – Norfolk – Manzanillo – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Tokyo – Kobe – Ningbo.
EC2: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – (Panama Canal) – Manzanillo – New York – Boston – Wilmington – Savannah – Charleston – Manzanillo – (Panama Canal) – Pusan – Qingdao.
EC3: Kaohsiung – Xiamen – Hong Kong – Yantian – Shanghai – (Panama Canal) – Manzanillo – Savannah – Jacksonville – Norfolk – Manzanillo – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Pusan – Kaohsiung.
EC4: Kaohsiung – Hong Kong – Yantian – Cai Mep – Singapore – (Suez Canal) – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Charleston – New York – (Suez Canal) – Singapore – Kaohsiung.
EC5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Singapore – Colombo – (Suez Canal) – Halifax – New York – Savannah – Jacksonville – Norfolk – Halifax – (Suez Canal) – Jebel Ali – Singapore – Laem Chabang.
Transatlantic
AL1: Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – London Gateway – Norfolk – Philadelphia – New York – Halifax – Rotterdam.
AL2: Le Havre – London Gateway – Rotterdam – Hamburg – New York – Charleston – Savannah – Le Havre.
AL3: Antwerp – Hamburg – London Gateway – Charleston – Port Everglades – Houston – Savannah – Norfolk – Antwerp.
AL4: London Gateway – Antwerp – Hamburg – Le Havre – Tuxpan (HLC & ONE only) – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – New Orleans – London Gateway.
AL5: Southhampton – Le Havre – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Savannah – Cartagena – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Oakland – Seattle – Vancouver – Oakland – Los Angeles/Long Beach – Balboa – (Panama Canal) – Cartagena – Caucedo – Savannah – Southampton.
© 2018 BlueWater Reporting (www.BlueWaterReporting.com) Used with permission