Hanjin adds transpacific service, reshuffles links

Hanjin adds transpacific service, reshuffles links    Hanjin Shipping confirmed it will launch an additional China/California service in April with other carriers, and said it will take space on another China/Pacific Southwest service and reshuffle existing services connecting China, South Korea and the U.S. Pacific Southwest.
   The “CUE” loop, scheduled to start April 14 from Qingdao, will provide a direct link connecting North China ports and the U.S. West Coast. It will have a rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Los Angeles, Oakland, Gwangyang (South Korea) and Qingdao.
   Yang Ming and “K” Line will also take space on the new transpacific service, which will also be known as “PSW-4.” The loop will use five 2,850-TEU ships, according to industry sources.
   Hanjin said the new service will feature a transit time between Ningbo and Long Beach of 13 days, compared to 16 days on existing services.
   Hanjin will start offering the new “CLX” China-Long Beach shuttle service of COSCO Container Lines under a space-swap agreement with the Chinese carrier, also effective April 14. The service has a transit time of 12 days between Shanghai and Long Beach.
   “The introduction of (the) CLX will double Hanjin's weekly service frequency between Shanghai and U.S. West Coast to four times,” the Korean carrier said.
   Hanjin is also revising its “CAX” transpacific service calling at Shanghai, Busan and Long Beach. It said transit times between Shanghai and Long Beach will be cut to 11 days in both directions down from 14 days. This will be the result of utilizing fast vessels and decreasing the number of ports of call.
   In a separate development, Hanjin will combine its transpacific “PSX” service and its Asia/Europe “NEX” service in June, to form a “pendulum” service to be called “PDE.”
   Other transpacific carriers are also expected to add capacity before the start of the transpacific peak season.