The French ocean carrier has suspended its Liberty Bridge service between North Europe and the United States East Coast.
Ocean carrier CMA CGM issued a seasonal suspension for its Liberty Bridge service between North Europe and the United States East Coast.
The loop had a rotation of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, New York, Baltimore, Charleston and Rotterdam.
The last full sailing departed Rotterdam Aug. 12 on the Vladimir, according to CMA CGM’s online service schedule.
Although carrier alliances tend to cooperate on the major east-west trades, CMA CGM operated the Liberty Bridge as a standalone service, without fellow Ocean3 Alliance members UASC and CSCL. According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, CMA CGM provided all four of the vessels on the service, which had an average capacity of 1,852 TEUs, with subsidiary Delmas as a slot purchaser.
Although the service was suspended, BlueWater Reporting’s Capacity Report shows that CMA CGM provides vessels on two other dedicated services, meaning they do not call any other regions, between North Europe and North America. These services, both of which call the East Coast of North America, include the SL1, jointly operated by Maersk Line, and the Victory Bridge, with average vessel capacities of 2,952 TEUs and 4,226 TEUs, respectively.
Overall, a total of 17 carriers deploy 109,361 TEUs each week through 26 container shipping services from North Europe to North America, 14 of which are dedicated loops, as illustrated by BlueWater Reporting’s Carrier Trade Route Deployment Report and Capacity Report. Of these 26 services, 23 call the East Coast of North America; two call the West Coast of North America, MSC’s California Express and USA West Coast Express; and one, G6 Alliance’s PA1, calls at ports on both coasts.
The adjacent chart compares the top five of the 14 dedicated container shipping services that deploy the most capacity from North Europe to North America. All 14 of these dedicated services call ports on the East Coast of North America and not the West Coast.
Of these 14 dedicated services, the AX1, which is operated by the G6 Alliance, deploys the most capacity each week at 8,720 TEUs. Hapag-Lloyd provides all five vessels on this service. Members of the G6 Alliance include ocean carriers APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Orient Overseas Container Line.
The AX1 is followed by Yang Ming’s TAE, which deploys 5,825 TEUs a week; G6 Alliance’s AX2, which deploys 4,987 TEUs a week; 2M Alliance’s TA1, which deploys 4,678 TEUs a week; and 2M Alliance’s TA4, which deploys 4,472 TEUs a week. The 2M Alliance consists of ocean carriers Maersk Line and MSC.