Carriers sign slot exchange pact in Asia/Australia trade

Carriers sign slot exchange pact in Asia/Australia trade    COSCO Container Lines, “K” Line, NYK Line and MOL in February will commence a slot exchange deal on two weekly services in the North Asia to Australia trade.
   The agreement has been designed to cover the loss of P&O Nedlloyd after its recent takeover by A.P. Moller-Maersk, from an existing consortium in the trade.
   COSCO has independently operated a South China/Australia loop, with NYK, “K” Line, MOL, and P&O Nedlloyd operating a North China/Australia service and NYK, COSCO, “K” Line, MOL, and P&O Nedlloyd running a Japan/Korea/Australia/South China service.
   The North China/Australia service is being suspended while additional tonnage will be introduced to the Japan/Korea/Australia/South China loop, rationalizing the calling ports together with COSCO’s service.
   The Loop 1 China/Australia service will be operated by five 1,700-TEU COSCO ships and have a port rotation of: Xiamen, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hong Kong and back to Xiamen.
   The Loop 2 Japan/Korea/Australia/South China service will uses five 2,400-TEU vessels provided by jointly by NYK, “K” Line and MOL. The port rotation will be Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Busan, Shanghai, Nansha, Shekou, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama.