CKYH to add all-water loop next week

   The CKYH Alliance said Wednesday it will add a transpacific all-water loop from May 18 as part of adjustments to its Asia-U.S. East Coast service network.
   It will be the fifth loop on the trade offered by the four carriers, COSCO Container Lines, Hanjin Shipping, Yang Ming, and “K” Line. The lines have also made small rotational tweaks to two other services.
   The updated service network will include:

• AWE-1, with a rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, New York, Wilmington, Savannah, Busan, and Ningbo. The rotation is unchanged, as are the deployment of nine 4,024 TEU ships, all from Hanjin. Hyundai Merchant Marine takes slots on the service.
• AWE2, with a rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yokohama, New York, Boston, Norfolk, and Qingdao. Effective May 15, calls at Lazaro Cardenas, Cristobal, and Savannah will be deleted, while Norfolk has been moved to last call out, as American Shipper reported in late April. The service is operated by nine COSCO vessels, with an average capacity of 4,455 TEUs.
• AWE-3, with a rotation of Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Busan, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, and Hong Kong. The rotation is unchanged. The service is operated by nine Yang Ming vessels with an average capacity of 4,219 TEUs.
• AWE-4, with a rotation of Cai Mep, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Singapore, and Cai Mep. A call at Jacksonville will be dropped, with the revised rotation effective from May 29. The service will be operated by nine vessels (six from “K” Line, two from Hanjin, and one from Yang Ming) with average capacity of 5,800 TEUs. MOL, a member of the New World Alliance, currently provides two vessels on the service, but it’s not immediately clear if MOL will remain on the service.
• AWE-6, with a rotation of Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Savannah, Norfolk, Charleston, and Yantian. The new service will be operated with nine 4,000-TEU vessels (three each from COSCO and Hanjin, two from “K” Line, and one from Yang Ming).

   Meanwhile, the alliance said it will not bring back its AWE-5 service, shuttered in November for the slack season. That service had a rotation of Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Cai Mep, Singapore, Boston, New York/New Jersey, Norfolk, Singapore, and Kaohsiung, and transited the Suez Canal, not the Panama Canal.
   “The alliance partners believe these changes will enhance service network between Asia to U.S. East Coast while offering customers competitive sailing frequency, transit time and service coverage so as to fulfill their needs,” the carriers said in a statement. – Eric Johnson