“K” LINE CONSIDERS START OF U.S./ASIA/EUROPE PENDULUM SERVICE

“K” LINE CONSIDERS START OF U.S./ASIA/EUROPE PENDULUM SERVICE

“K” LINE CONSIDERS START OF U.S./ASIA/EUROPE PENDULUM SERVICE

   Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. is considering the launch of its first U.S. West Coast/Asia/Europe “pendulum” service in mid-2002.
   The multitrade service would cover both the transpacific and Asia/Europe routes in one rotation, and would utilize a series of new 5,500-TEU post-Panamax ships.
   The Japanese carrier will take delivery of 12 new container vessels, each with an individual capacity of 5,500 TEUs, between July and September 2002.
   A spokesman for the carrier said that eight of the new vessels are expected to join the company’s Asia/Europe services, and the other four would be phased into its transpacific services. But “K” Line is looking at the possibility of operating them within a single pendulum service.
   “K” Line operates container services in the east/west trades as part of an alliance with COSCO Container Lines and Yangming Marine,
   Maersk Sealand and other alliances of container shipping lines — the United Alliance and the Grand Alliance — already operate U.S. West Coast/Asia/Europe/Asia/U.S. West Coast pendulum services.
   “K” Line said the new 25-knot, 5,500-TEU ships will be named the Golden Gate Bridge, the Lions Gate Bridge, the James River Bridge, the Bremen Bridge, the Akinada Bridge, the Chicago Bridge, the Chiswick Bridge, the Rotterdam Bridge, the Tsing Ma Bridge, the Elkantra Bridge, the Long Beach Bridge and the Shanghai Bridge.