NYK, Hapag-Lloyd ending U.S. East Coast/South America partnership

NYK, Hapag-Lloyd ending U.S. East Coast/South America partnership Japan’s NYK Line and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd will next month end their union in the U.S. East Coast/East Coast South America trade.
   The two carriers both provide ships on a joint weekly service using six ships of about 1,700 TEUs. NYK, which markets the string as Atlantic North-South Express Service (ANS), said it will instead operate the string independently using six vessels of 1,100 TEUs commencing with the vessel Sanuki in Norfolk on Sept. 23. The restructured NYK-only service will have a rotation of Norfolk, New York, Savannah, Caucedo, Puerto Cabello, Navegantes, Santos, Vit'ria, Puerto Sucre, Caucedo and back to Norfolk.
   Hapag-Lloyd calls the service with NYK the Brazil-East Coast Express (BEX). A spokesman from the Hamburg-based line told American Shipper that from Week 39 it will enter into a new cooperation, this time with Mediterranean Shipping Co., on two services, the first covering the U.S. East Coast to Brazil and Argentina, and the second from the U.S. Gulf via Caucedo and Puerto Cabello to Brazil.