MAERSK ADDS 6TH ASIA/U.S. WEST COAST PACIFIC LOOP

   Maersk Line confirmed that it has launched a sixth Asia/U.S. West Coast weekly container service to cater for peak season cargo in the Pacific trade.
   Named TP6A, the temporary service calls at Hong Kong, Yantian and Long Beach, with a rotation of only 28 days.
   The previously unannounced service was launched in August and will be phased out with the sailing of the Maersk Barcelona in Hong Kong on Oct. 20. The service employs four vessels of about 1,800-TEU capacity.
   Details of transit times and days of departure and arrival are posted on the ComPairData global shipping database at https://www.compairdata.com.
   Sea-Land Service does not have space on the new Pacific loop of Maersk, with whom it operates a global alliance.
   A spokesman for Maersk said that the carrier is also adding capacity to the AE5/TP6 "pendulum" service operated jointly with Sea-Land. Maersk is gradually replacing "K-class" vessels of about 6,400-TEU capacity deployed in the 13-ship service by new "S-class" ships of 7,100-TEU capacity.
   In early December, a tenth newly-delivered S-class ship will join the AE5/TP6 service and replace an existing K-class unit. The ships of the AE5/TP6 service call at northern European ports, Asian ports and U.S West Coast ports before returning to Asia and Europe.