German ocean carriers Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd are shifting two of their services from one member of the Northwest Seaport Alliance to the other.
Ocean carriers Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd are shifting two jointly operated services from the Port of Tacoma to the Port of Seattle.
One of these loops, which operates on a weekly basis, is referred to as the MPS by Hapag-Lloyd and the Pacific Coast-Western Mediterranean Service by Hamburg Sud. The last vessel on the MPS/Pacific Coast-Western Mediterranean Service to call the Port of Tacoma will be the JPO Vela on May 25, while the service’s first vessel to call the Port of Seattle will be the Rio de Janeiro Express on June 1, Hamburg Sud said.
The MPS/Pacific Coast-Western Mediterranean Service has a current rotation of Cagliari, Leghorn, Genoa, Marseilles-Fos (Fos), Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena (Colombia), Manzanillo (Mexico), Los Angeles, Oakland, Tacoma, Vancouver (British Columbia), Oakland, Los Angeles, Manzanillo (Mexico), Manzanillo (Panama), Cartagena (Colombia), Caucedo, Lisbon, Tangier, Valencia and Cagliari.
According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the loop currently operates with 11 vessels with an average capacity of 4,408 TEUs, with Hapag-Lloyd providing nine vessels and Hamburg Sud providing the additional two vessels.
Slot purchasers include Hamburg Sud’s subsidiary line Alianca, along with ZIM. However, ZIM omits Cartagena (Colombia), Tacoma, Vancouver (British Columbia) and eastbound calls at Manzanillo (Panama) and Manzanillo (Mexico). In addition, the Israeli carrier does not currently appear to be offering the new call at the Port of Seattle.
The second service making the shift to the Port of Seattle is fortnightly and serves trade between the West Coast of North America and Oceania. It is referred to as the WAN by Hapag-Lloyd and the Australia/New Zealand Service by Hamburg Sud.
The last vessel on the loop to call the Port of Tacoma will be the Cap Pasado on May 27, while the loop’s first vessel to call the Port of Seattle will be the Rio de Janeiro Express on June 1, Hamburg Sud said.
The WAN by Hapag-Lloyd and the Australia/New Zealand Service has a port rotation of Vancouver (British Columbia), Tacoma, Oakland, Long Beach, Tauranga, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Auckland, Suva, Honolulu and Vancouver (British Columbia), according to BlueWater Reporting.
It operates with four vessels, two each from Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Sud, with an average capacity of 2,631 TEUs. Slot purchasers include CMA CGM and subsidiary Lines ANL and USL, along with Alianca.
Both services currently use the Pierce County Terminal at the Port of Tacoma, but will be switching to the SSA Terminals – Terminal 18 at the Port of Seattle.
In terms of liner services, once these changes take effect, the Port of Seattle will be frequented by 11 fully cellular container services instead of nine, according to BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool. In addition, the port is called by Aloha Marine Line’s barge service between Seattle and Hawaii.
Meanwhile, the Port of Tacoma will be frequented by nine fully cellular container services instead of 11. In addition, two open hatch loops frequent the port, as well as with three services that operate with either pure car and truck carriers and/or roll-on/roll-off vessels.
Ocean carriers shift services from Tacoma to Seattle
