HOUSTON TO GET DIRECT ASIAN CONTAINER SERVICE AGAIN

HOUSTON TO GET DIRECT ASIAN CONTAINER SERVICE AGAIN    Neglected by transpacific container shipping lines, the port of Houston will get a direct Asian container service again in May, when CMA CGM and P&O Nedlloyd    launch a transpacific all-water container service.
   The service will be the first direct Asia/Houston container service for many years.
   The weekly service will employ eight vessels of 2,000 to 2,400 TEU capacity.
   It will also call at ports on the West Coast of Mexico and at ports of Panama and the Caribbean.
   The joint service is scheduled to start on May 15, subject to approval by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and by the Chinese authorities.
   While a few multipurpose services are operated between Asian ports and Houston, no container shipping line is currently running a direct Asia/Houston service, according to the global liner shipping database ComPairData.
   CMA CGM said that its all-water service will provide a transit time of 26 days between Hong Kong and Houston, as compared to an intermodal transit time of about 21 days via a Californian port.
   Rodolphe Saade, senior vice president, U.S. trades at CMA CGM, said that the decision to select a direct Houston routing via Panama resulted from several factors, including the avoidance of mini-landbridge two-way rail costs of about $800 to move a 40-foot between Los Angeles and Houston.
   Citing last year’s port labor disruptions on the U.S. West Coast, Saade said that CMA CGM asked “why not find an alternative to the West Coast?”
   This new service will have a rotation of Shangha', an unnamed South China port, Hong Kong, Busan, Manzanillo (Mexico), Manzanillo (Panama), Kingston, Houston, Manzanillo (Panama), Manzanillo (Mexico) and Shangha'.
   P&O Nedlloyd and CMA CGM already operate a joint all-water service from the Far East to the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.
   The CMA CGM/P&O Nedlloyd is the third all-water transpacific container service launched since the beginning of the year.
   In a separate development, Saade said that he is confident that CMA CGM will obtain “the totality” of the rate increases of $700 to $900 per 40-foot container requested by carriers of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement
from shippers for contracts starting May 1.
   “The market is very strong,” he said. “Our ships are full.”