Deployed capacity from Asia to the West Coast of South America will decrease by 15 percent by the end of the year compared to the middle of December as a result of the termination of the WLX/SA2 and the merger of the Andes and AN2/ACSA2 services.
Ocean carriers MSC and Hyundai will join three of the same loops between Asia and the west coast of the Americas before the end of the month.
MSC’s current Andes service will be dissolved into one of these three loops, the joint Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and CSCL-operated AN2/ACSA2, which MSC will still refer to as the Andes once it joins.
The news comes shortly after Yang Ming, Hanjin and Hyundai decided to terminate their jointly operated WLX/SA2 loop between Asia, the West Coast of Mexico and the West Coast of South America, with the last sailing having departed Kaohsiung Dec. 18 with the Conti Madrid.
MSC and Hyundai will join the AN2/ACSA2 loop as vessel providers, dubbing it the Andes and NW2, respectively. Both carriers will join with the Dec. 27 sailing of the CMA CGM Tigris from Busan, according to their most resent online service schedules.
The service will add calls at Busan (eastbound), Balboa (eastbound) and Coronel with this sailing. The revised port rotation will then be Busan, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Busan, Manzanillo (Mexico), Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa, Buenaventura, Callao, San Antonio, Coronel, Lirquen, Mejillones, Callao, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo (Mexico) and Busan.
The AN2/ACSA2 currently operates with 11 vessels with an average capacity of 9,178 TEUs, according to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting. Hapag-Lloyd provides eight vessels, CMA CGM provides two vessels and CSCL provides one vessel. Hamburg Sud and subsidiary lines Alianca, CCNI and Delmas purchase slots on the loop.
With the additional calls, the AN2/ACSA2 will begin operating with 12 vessels, eight from MSC, two from CMA CGM, and one each from Hyundai and CSCL. Although Hapag-Lloyd will no longer provide a vessel on the loop, the German carrier will continue to participate as a slot purchaser, according to its online service schedules. The AN2/ACSA2 will continue to operate with vessels with an average capacity of around 9,000 TEUs, MSC said.
MSC’s prior Andes service, which will dissolve into this loop, operated with 12 vessels with an average capacity of 8,090 TEUs and a rotation of Chiwan, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Yokohama, Manzanillo (Mexico), Balboa, Callao, Iquique, San Antonio, Coronel, Callao, Manzanillo (Mexico), Busan, Shanghai and Chiwan.
In addition, MSC and Hyundai will join the AME1, operated by Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg Sud, CMA CGM and CSCL, as slot takers before the end of the month, dubbing it the Aztec and NW3, respectively, according to their most recent online service schedules.
Effective with the Dec. 30 sailing of the Teno from Qingdao, the service will also add a westbound and eastbound call at Balboa, resulting in a revised port rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Yokohama, Ensenada, Manzanillo (Mexico), Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa, Buenaventura, Guayaquil, Balboa, Manzanillo (Mexico), Ensenada, Yokohama, Busan and Qingdao.
The AME1 currently operates with nine vessels with an average capacity of 7,250 TEUs, according to BlueWater Reporting. Hapag-Lloyd provides five vessels, Hamburg Sud provides two vessels and CMA CGM and CSCL provide one vessel each. “K” Line, APL, and subsidiary lines Alianca, CCNI and Delmas purchase slots on the loop.
With the addition of the Balboa calls, the AME1 will begin operating with 10 vessels. Hapag-Lloyd will provide the majority of the vessels, with CMA CGM also providing vessels on the loop. Although Hamburg Sud will no longer provide vessels, it will participate on the AME1, but it is currently unclear if CSCL will continue to purchase space on the service. Larger vessels will be added to the loop and, according to MSC, the new ships will have an average vessel capacity of around 9,000 TEUs, an increase of about 1,750 TEUs.
MSC and Hyundai will also join the Hamburg Sud ASPA loop as slot purchasers, calling it the Inca and NW1, respectively. Both carriers will join with the Dec. 27 sailing of the Santa Ines from Keelung, according to their most recent online service schedules.
The service has a rotation of Keelung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Manzanillo (Mexico), Callao, Iquique, Mejillones, Valparaiso and Keelung. The ASPA currently operates with 10 vessels with an average capacity of 7,489 TEUs, according to BlueWater Reporting. Hamburg Sud provides nine vessels and CCNI provides one vessel. CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, CSCL, and subsidiary lines Alianca and Delmas purchase slots on the loop.
Capacity loss on the Asia to West Coast of South America trade from the termination of the WLX/SA2 and the consolidation of MSC’s Andes loop with the AN2/ACSA2 was partially offset by a weekly deployed capacity increase on the AME1 of approximately 1,750 TEUs a week.
Combined, these changes combined will cause weekly deployed capacity from Asia to the West Coast of South America to decrease by 15 percent, from 79,477 TEUs a week to 67,685 TEUs a week, as illustrated in the chart below. This does not account for skipped sailings. A total of nine services instead of 11 will deploy capacity on the trade.
BWR: Carriers continue consolidation of Asia-Americas loops
