Evergreen starts Asia-Europe loop with Hanjin

   Evergreen Line has confirmed that it has started a new Asia-Europe service with Hanjin Shipping, ending a service arrangement with China Shipping on the same trade.
   Last week, it was reported by maritime news outlets that the line had dropped out of the service it jointly ran with China Shipping, the AEX1/CEM loop, to run its own CEM loop with Hanjin.
   China Shipping will reportedly continue to operate the AEX1 loop with slot partners CMA CGM and Zim, meaning the Asia-Europe lane, which has been beset by low rate levels, will gain an additional service and more capacity. A host of carriers on the trade attempted to hike rate levels Aug. 1, and others have plans to do so in September.
   But the August increases have been largely unsuccessful, with Asia-Europe spot rates dropping on the benchmark indexes last week.
   The AEX1/CEM loop had a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yantian, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Hong Kong. According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the service was operated with 10 vessels (five from China Shipping, three from Evergreen, and one each from Hanjin and Zim) with an average capacity of 9,242 TEUs.
   Reports indicated Evergreen will provide seven vessels on the new CEM iteration, with Hanjin providing two. The vessels will be in the 8,000- to 10,000-TEU range. – Eric Johnson