OCEAN Alliance adds NY/NJ to ECX1 port rotation

The change is effective with the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt vessel voyage that has a Hong Kong ETA of Oct. 18 for the eastbound route, and an ETA of Nov. 18 in New York for the westbound route.    The OCEAN Alliance is adding the Port of New York and New Jersey to the port rotation of its South Atlantic Express/East Coast Express 1 (SAX/ECX1) service between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, replacing a call to Colon, Panama, which is being dropped from the route.
   “In order to better cater for your shipping needs with our East Coast Express 1 (ECX1) product, we would like to inform you that New York (Maher Terminal) is now being added in the port rotation to provide express services from Central China,” OCEAN Alliance member OOCL said in announcing the change. The east-west vessel sharing agreement is composed of ocean carriers CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen Line and OOCL, whose parent company OOIL was recently purchased by COSCO.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the SAX/ECX1 is operated with 11 vessels – five from OOCL, four from CMA CGM and two from COSCO – with an average capacity of 13,386 TEUs. With the addition of the new call to New York/New Jersey in early fall, the loop’s port rotation will be Hong Kong, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, New York/New Jersey, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, and Hong Kong.
   Transit times to New York from Shanghai and Ningbo are expected to take 23 and 25 days, respectively, OOCL said.
   “This is designed to provide customers with a significantly improved product by taking advantage of the new air draft clearance of the Bayonne Bridge to accommodate for the 13,000-14,000 TEU containerships,” OOCL explained. 
   The change is effective with the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt vessel voyage that has a Hong Kong ETA of Oct. 18 for the eastbound route, and an ETA of Nov. 18 in New York for the westbound route.
   Maher Terminals says its location at the Port of New York and New Jersey is North America’s largest marine container terminal. Last year, it was acquired from Deutsche Bank by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III and a subsidiary of Japanese shipping company NYK Line.
   The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, which measures 1,200 feet in length and158 feet in beam, and has a container carrying capacity of 14,885 TEUs, became the largest ship to ever transit the Panama Canal on Aug. 22. A week later, it became the largest vessel to call the Port of New York and New Jersey, thanks to the $1.6 billion Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance Project, which raised the clearance under the crossing from 151 feet to 215 feet.