Peter T. Leach | May 18, 2009 10:27AM EDT
The three carriers that remain in the Grand Alliance following the withdrawal of MISC Berhad said today that its departure would have no effect on the alliance’s trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic services.
MISC notified alliance partners Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL and NYK on Friday that it had decided to pull out of the alliance’s services between Europe (including the Mediterranean) and the Far East as of Jan. 1, 2010. MISC does not operate with the Grand Alliance on the transPacific or transAtlantic trades.
“We greatly regret that MISC as a founding member of the Grand Alliance is withdrawing, but respect its decision,” the three partner lines said in a joint statement today.
They said the withdrawal of MISC will not affect sailing frequencies, transit times or service structures. “Nothing will change for our customers,” the statement said.
The fleet deployed by the Grand Alliance comprises about 140 vessels with capacities of between 2,900 and 9,000 TEUs.
MISC has so far provided seven of these ships. “We will be replacing these ships in the context of our normal cascading,” stated the Grand Alliance.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.