GRAND ALLIANCE ADDS JAKARTA, XIAMEN TO ASIA/EUROPE LINKS

GRAND ALLIANCE ADDS JAKARTA, XIAMEN TO ASIA/EUROPE LINKS    The Grand Alliance of Hapag-Lloyd, Malaysia International Shipping Corp., NYK, OOCL and P&O Nedlloyd will add direct calls at Jakarta and Xiamen to its Asia/northern Europe services by mid-September.
   Grand Alliance carrier OOCL said that the changes will be part of the revision of two of the alliance’s five weekly Asia/northern Europe services.
   The “loop 5” service of the alliance will have a revised rotation of Rotterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Malta, Jeddah, Dubai/Jebel Ali, Colombo, Jakarta, Singapore, Port Kelang, Colombo, Jeddah/Jebel Ali, Malta, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Southampton.
   The ports of Shekou, China, and Hong Kong will no longer be called by this service, which will focus on the Southeast Asian ports of Jakarta, Singapore and Port Kelang.
   According to ComPairData, the global shipping database on the Internet at www.compairdata.com, no carrier currently provides a two-way direct service between Jakarta and northern Europe. CMA CGM, Contship Containerlines and Marfret provide a westbound-only service from Jakarta to northern Europe.
   The Grand Alliance carriers will also revise their “loop 4” service by adding direct calls at Xiamen, China.
   A small port located in Fujian province across the strait from Taiwan, Xiamen has attracted an increasing number of direct transpacific and Asia/Europe services.