CKYH resumes fifth Asia/Europe loop

CKYH resumes fifth Asia/Europe loop    The CKYH Alliance carriers will reactivate the fifth loop of their Asia/northern Europe network beginning in April, according to a report Monday by the maritime news service Alphaliner.
   CKYH carriers COSCO, 'K' Line, Yang Ming, and Hanjin Shipping will also realign the rotations of their other four Asia-Northern Europe services, according to Alphaliner and American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
   The reactivated service, dubbed NE5, will have a rotation of Gwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Singapore, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Algeciras, Kaohsiung and Gwangyang, and will be operated with nine vessels. A Hanjin spokesperson confirmed the new rotation for NE5 to American Shipper last week.
   Meanwhile, the rotations of NE1, NE2, NE3 and NE4 (the existing Asia-Northern Europe services) will change in early April.
   The new NE1 rotation will be Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Nansha, Algeciras, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Singapore, Nansha and Ningbo. Of note, the service now calls at Algeciras, home to a new Hanjin terminal that provides connections to Africa, while calls at Antwerp will stop, according to Alphaliner. According to ComPair Data, Wan Hai and PIL take slots on this service, which is operated with nine vessels averaging 9,843 TEUs — five from COSCO and four from Hanjin.
   The new NE2 rotation is Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Singapore, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Jeddah, Singapore, Shekou, Hong Kong and Xiamen. Of note is a new westbound call at Singapore and Shekou, the latter replacing a second call at Yantian. This service is operated with nine vessels averaging 8,178 TEUs, with Yang Ming providing five and 'K' Line four. UASC is a slot buyer.
   The new NE3 rotation is Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Yantian, Singapore, Port Said, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Yantian, Hong Kong and Xingang. On this revised rotation, Antwerp is added, as are Yantian and Hong Kong westbound, while Singapore is dropped. UASC is also a slot buyer on this service, which is operated with 10 COSCO vessels averaging 8,812 TEUs.
   The new NE4 rotation is Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Said, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Singapore, Hong Kong and Qingdao. According to Alphaliner, this service previously called at Gwangyang and Busan. And according to ComPair Data, the new rotation calls in Port Said in both directions. The service is operated with nine vessels averaging 8,091 TEUs, with Yang Ming and 'K' Line each providing four and COSCO one.
   Also of note, ComPair Data has found the NE1, NE2, NE3 and NE4 will no longer use skipped sailings to reduce capacity.

Wynn/span>

   'NE1, NE2, and NE4 were eight ships and skipping a voyage' once out of a nine-week rotation, said ComPair Data researcher Steve Wynn. 'Now, the services are nine ships and still have a 63-day rotation which means they are no longer skipping the voyage. NE3 had nine ships and was skipping a voyage in a 10-week rotation but has now added back a ship and is no longer skipping the voyage and is still a 70-day rotation.'
   CKYH carriers reduced capacity between Asia and Northern Europe in October, going from five to four loops and renaming the services NE. At the time, the carriers said the moves would pull 20 percent of capacity out of the trade, though ComPair Data's Francis Phillips said the capacity reduction was slightly offset by the use of larger vessels.

Francis

   Now that the fifth service will return and the larger ships will remain, capacity will be greater than what was offered in the third quarter of 2009. Vessel sizes used on the services are larger than the ones the CKYH carriers indicated would be used when they announced the renaming of NE loops.
   On Monday, American Shipperreported that the Grand Alliance carriers were bringing back a suspended Far East-Europe loop that will now be operated with 10 vessels averaging 6,151 TEUs on a 70-day rotation. ' Eric Johnson