Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Mar 12, 2012 11:12AM EDT
The four ocean carriers that belong to the CKYH alliance and Evergreen Line are entering into individual cooperative agreements with each other to operate 12 joint weekly services on the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trade lanes.
The bilateral vessel-sharing agreements among the five carriers will result in eight weekly loops on the Asia-Europe lane and four on the Asia-Mediterranean lane, including direct calls to the Adriatic ports of Rijeka, Koper and Trieste.
The members of the CKYH alliance are Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin.
The carriers said in an announcement Monday that the 12 services, which will kick off in April, “are designed to offer customers [the] best sailing frequency, transit time and service coverage.” Plans for the joint services were first announced in December.
Most of the vessels to be deployed on the services will be super-post-Panamax ships, with capacities ranging from 8,000 to 13,000 20-foot equivalent units.
The eight joint services on the Asia – North Europe trade lane will have the following rotations:
- NE1: Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Nansha, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Singapore, Nansha and back to Shanghai.
- NE2: Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Singapore, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Xiamen.
- NE3: Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Singapore, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Yantian, Hong Kong and back to Xingang.
- NE4: Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Singapore, Yantian, Kaohsiung and back to Ningbo.
- NE6: Xingang, Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Algeciras, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Xingang.
- CEM: Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantiam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Hong Kong and back to Shanghai.
- CES: Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Thamesport, Piraeus, Jeddah, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas and back to Kaohsiung
- CES2: Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Tanjung Pelepas and back to Qingdao.
The four Asia – Mediterranean services will have the following rotations:
- MD1: Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Piraeus, La Spezia, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Piraeus, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Qingdao.
- MD2: Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Port Said, Ashdod, Genoa, Barcelona, Fos, Port Said, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Ningbo.
- MD3: Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Port Said, Naples, La Spezia, Livorno, Port Said, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Yantian and back to Ningbo.
- UAM: Tokyo, Osaka, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, Ashdod, Alexandria, Taranto, Koper, Rijeka, Trieste, Taranto, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai and back to Ningbo.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
