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.
Carriers sign slot exchange pact in Asia/Australia trade
