Maersk, CMA long TP3/TP9/Columbus loop slows

   The ocean carriers Maersk Line and CMA CGM have slowed their joint weekly TP3/TP9/Columbus pendulum linking Pacific Northwest ports with Asia and Maersk’s Southeast Asian hub at Tanjung Pelepas, before continuing westabout via Suez to the U.S. East Coast. Round voyage time has increased from 105 days to 112 days.
   The joint service is also scheduled to skip two sailing positions in first half 2012, proportionately reducing available capacity. The service currently operates with eight Maersk vessels and seven from CMA CGM, averaging 7,658 TEUs.
   The rotation of the TP3/TP9/Columbus remains Seattle, Vancouver, Yokohama, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Tanjung Pelepas, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Busan and Seattle.
   The slow-down is noticeably weighted in favor of U.S. import legs and against exports. Westbound between Vancouver and Yokohama the transit is now 13 days compared 9 days between Busan and Seattle eastbound, while from Savannah to Tanjung Pelepas via Suez the non-stop transit is a super-slow 31 days compared with a Tanjung Pelepas-New York transit of only 22 days. — ComPair Data, Ben Meyer