New World Alliance adds Pacific capacity

New World Alliance adds Pacific capacity    The New World Alliance of APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine and MOL will add transpacific capacity for this year’s peak season by reinstating its Asia/U.S. West Coast “PSV” loop, suspended during the slack period, and upgrading capacity on one of its Asia/U.S. East Coast all-water services.
   Jin Il Chung, general manager of liner planning at Hyundai, said the alliance would add some 600 TEUs a week to its “NYX” Asia/U.S. East Coast service, when compared to last year. Average capacity for the service will rise to about 3,400 TEUs a week, from 2,800 TEUs, he estimates.
   Despite the resumption of the “PSV” service to the U.S. West Coast, the alliance will add “almost nil” capacity in the Asia/U.S. West Coast trade when compared to the situation in last year’s peak season, Chung added.
   The “PSV,” or “South China/Los Angeles Express” service, will be reinstated June 6 from Hong Kong. It will employ four ships of about 4,600-TEU capacities and have a rotation of Hong Kong, Chiwan, Kaohsiung, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
   In a joint statement, APL, Hyundai and MOL said the “PSV” was deployed during the summer months of 2003 to provide additional space and service during the busy peak season. But the New World Alliance “now expects the ‘PSV’ to remain a permanent, year-round service.”
   Alliance carrier Hyundai has also just started an additional Asia/U.S. West Coast service, the “PCX,” outside the New World Alliance. MOL is taking space on the “PCX” service, but not APL. This additional China/Korea/California loop employs Hyundai ships of about 3,300 TEUs that will contribute additional capacity in the trade.
   The combined capacity increase of the “NYX,” “PSV” and “PCX” is estimated to amount to 8,500 TEUs a week, or about 3 percent of the trade’s current total eastbound capacity.
   APL, Hyundai and MOL also said they would revise the rotations of three of their Asia/U.S. West Coast services in the next few weeks.
   Eastbound calls at Chiwan of the alliance’s “SAX” service will be removed from its port rotation and picked up by the “PSV” service. The “SAX” loop will have a revised rotation of Los Angeles, Oakland, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Laem Chabang, Singapore and Los Angeles.
   Calls at Kaohsiung will be stopped in the rotation of the “PS2” loop, which will then call at Los Angeles, Oakland, Dutch Harbor, Yokohama, Busan, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian and Los Angeles.
   The call at Hong Kong of the “PS3” service will be stopped, and the order of the Ningbo and Shanghai calls on this loop will be reversed. The “PS3” will have a revised rotation of Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kobe, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
   There will be no changes made to the alliance’s other West Coast services nor to its “NYX” and “APX” all-water East Coast loops.
   Not including the Hyundai/MOL “PCX” transpacific service, the New World Alliance will now operate 10 weekly transpacific services.