MSC, Maersk Line, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM are reorganizing their South America services in the months leading up to Maersk closing its acquisition of north-south specialist Hamburg Sud and finalizing the sale of its Brazilian cabotage subsidiary Mercosul.
Ocean carriers Hamburg Sud, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM will be joining MSC and Maersk Line on a revamped East Coast South America network, just before Maersk Line expects to close on its acquisition of Hamburg Sud.
The five carriers collectively operate five major services between Europe and the Mediterranean and South America, with four of those loops set to undergo major changes.
According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, MSC currently operates those three services – the MED/SAEC as sole vessel operator; the SAEC1/ECX co-operated with Hapag-Lloyd; the MESA co-operated with Hamburg Sud; and the Maersk Line-operated SAMBA. The carriers involved will be swapping ports, vessels, and slot purchasers on the three services in order to satisfy enforced competition and service restructuring by trade officials.
Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM will be joining the six-vessel, 9,095-TEU average MED/SAEC service, on which Maersk currently takes slots. In addition, the loop will add calls to Barcelona, Genoa, Marseilles, Gioia Tauro, Suape, Rio de Janeiro, and Montevideo, while dropping calls to Algeciras, Tangier, and Itajai, leaving a new port rotation of the MED/SAEC will be Barcelona, Genoa, Marseille (Fos), Gioia Tauro, Valencia, Suape, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranagua, Itapoa, Montevideo, Navagantes, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Las Palmas, Valencia and back to Barcelona. Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM will be joining in the service.
On the SAEC1/ECX service, which currently operates with nine ships – six from MSC and three from Hapag-Lloyd – with an average capacity of 7,171 TEUs, Maersk Line and CMA CGM will depart, while Hamburg Sud will remain as a slot purchaser, according to BlueWater Reporting. Calls to Bremerhaven, Sines, Sepetiba, Navegantes, Rio Grande, Navegantes and Salvador will be dropped, and calls to Algeciras (westbound only) and Itapoa will be added. The new port rotation will be Rotterdam, London, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Algeciras, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Itapoa, Paranagua, Santos, Pecem, Tangier, and Rotterdam.
The MESA service, which currently operates with eight ships – six MSC ships and two from Hamburg Sud – will see Hamburg Sud depart as a vessel operator along with Maersk and CMA CGM as slot-purchasers. Hapag-Lloyd recently joined as a slot purchaser in their stead. The port rotation for the MESA will remain Gioia Tauro, Genoa, Leghorn, Marseille (Fos), Barcelona, Valencia, Suape, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Navegantes, Porto Itapoa, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Suape, Tanger Morocco, Valencia and back to Gioia Tauro.
Finally, the Maersk Line-operated SAMBA service will see CMA CGM join as a vessel operator, in lieu of its participation on the MESA service. With eight vessels with an average capacity of 8,400 TEUs, the port rotation for the SAMBA will drop its current calls to Bremerhaven, Casablanca, Itajai and Rio Grande, while adding calls to Itapoa and Tangier. The new port rotation for the SAMBA will be Rotterdam, London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Algeciras, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Itapoa, Paranagua, Santos, Pecem, Tangiers and back to Rotterdam.
According to an announcement from Hamburg Sud, the SAEC1/ECX and the MESA services will operate as a dual network for “extensive” coverage of the Mediterranean and Brazil. The SAEC1/ECX loop will attend to the fruit season with Hamburg Sud operating all of the service’s eight vessels, which will be upgraded to a capacity of 10,500 TEUs each.
The South America network changes are expected to be implemented by October on a rolling basis.
Maersk Line has been making moves in South America, first getting approved to acquire Hamburg Sud in April, and then announcing the sale of Brazilian cabotage subsidiary Mercosul, which holds 21 percent of the cabotage market, to CMA CGM in order to comply with competition standards in the region.
Hamburg Sud is the parent company of Brazilian cabotage carrier Alianca, which holds 59 percent of the Brazilian cabotage market and would give Maersk Line 80 percent of the cabotage container trade if it did not sell Mercosul.
According to a report from The Loadstar, however, selling Mercosul may not be enough for Brazilian competition officials, as Maersk Line has reportedly been “strongly lobbied by Brazilian meat exporters over consolidation in the reefer market.”
Maersk Line expects to close the $4.3 billion acquisition of Hamburg Sud by the end of 2017.
Carriers revamp South America network ahead of Hamburg Sud, Mercosul acquisitions
