NORASIA, CMA CGM, WAN HAI SWITCH TO MAERSK PACT

NORASIA, CMA CGM, WAN HAI SWITCH TO MAERSK PACT    Norasia Container Lines, CMA CGM and Wan Hai will take space from Maersk Sealand in the transpacific trade when one of their joint services stops at the end of October.
   The weekly China California Service run with Norasia vessels, and on which CMA CGM and Wan Hai take space, will be withdrawn. However, the cooperation between the three carriers will continue under the new arrangement with Maersk Sealand, from the beginning of November.
   The shipping lines will take space eastbound on Maersk Sealand’s TP2 service, from Shanghai and Busan to Long Beach. Westbound, Norasia, CMA CGM and Wan Hai will move cargoes on Maersk Sealand’s TP5 service, from Long Beach to Kaohsiung and Hong Kong.
   The removal of the four 1,400-TEU ships employed in the China California Service will take about 73,000 TEUs in one-way annual ship capacity out of the transpacific trade.
   A spokesman for Maersk Sealand said recently that the slot charter agreement with CMA CGM will last for the current slack season only, until May 2001, and will help stabilize the transpacific trade.
   CMA CGM and Norasia will continue to operate the separate U.S./Asia/Mediterranean/Asia/U.S. MEX/TPX service, on which Wan Hai also takes space.
   Jason Lee, chief financial officer of Wan Hai, said that his company is studying the potential launch next year of a transpacific service with its own vessels.
   “At this moment, we are happy with our slot-charter service,” he said.