Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC Restore Trans-Pacific Container Service

With capacity tight and demand strong on the trans-Pacific trade, the world’s three largest container lines are restoring a joint service to the U.S. West Coast that they had suspended last October.

Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM all announced separately on Wednesday that they would put the vessel-sharing agreement back into service as of July 10, adding a total capacity of 39,000 20-foot equivalent units to the trade in time for peak season.

The service, which Maersk calls the TP2, MSC the Eagle Service and CMA CGM the Yang Tse service , will consist of six 6,500-TEU vessels, of which MSC will deploy three, Maersk Line two and CMSA CGM one.

The VSA will cover the following port rotation on the eastbound leg: The new TP2 service rotation will be Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Hong Kong, China; Xiamen, China; Shanghai, China; Qingdao, China; and Long Beach, California.

The westbound rotation will be Long Beach, California; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Hong Kong, China; Xiamen, China; Shanghai, China; and Qingdao, China.

The first call of the joint service will take place on July, 10 with the departure of the MSC Luisa from Xiamen.

Top 15 Container Fleet Operators: Find more information at By The Numbers.

-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.