G6 Alliance skips further sailings on Asia-Europe loop

The ocean carrier alliance will void additional voyages on its Loop 6 service between Asia and Europe, which suspended operations in February and is currently scheduled to resume sailing in July.

   Members of the G6 Alliance – ocean carriers APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Orient Overseas Container Line – will void additional sailings on the alliance’s Asia-Europe Loop 6 service.
   Last month, the G6 Alliance announced plans to void sailings on Loop 6 from week 8 through week 19 (westbound, ETA Fuzhou, May 12). However, the alliance will void further sailings on the service from week 19 for eight additional weeks, resuming service in week 27 (westbound, ETA Fuzhou, July 7), the carriers said.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the Loop 6 service was suspended with the Feb. 18 sailing of the OOCL Berlin from Fuzhou. The loop operated with 11 vessels with an average capacity of 11,872 TEUs and a rotation of Fuzhou, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Nansha, Shekou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, Southampton, Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Dubai, Shekou and Fuzhou.
   In order to deliver ongoing coverage, the G6 Alliance said it will continue to provide the following rotations on Loop 4 and Loop 5 until Loop 6 resumes.
   Loop 4: Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Colombo, Southampton, Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Jeddah, Jebel Ali, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ningbo.
   Loop 5: Gwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Singapore, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Singapore, Shekou, Kaohsiung and Gwangyang.
   Currently, Loop 4 operates with 12 vessels with an average capacity of 13,050 TEUs, while Loop 5 currently deploys 11 vessels with an average capacity of 13,097 TEUs, according to BlueWater Reporting.
   Overall, the G6 Alliance currently operates four services on the Asia-North Europe trade, which include Loop 1, Loop 4, Loop 5 and Loop 7. Combined, these four services deploy 49,166 TEUs a week (based on average vessel capacity), according to BlueWater Reporting’s Capacity Report.