Maersk, MSC to expand 2M network

The member carriers of the 2M vessel sharing agreement will add Asia-Europe and transpacific services in order to accommodate the volumes gained through slot purchase agreements with Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hamburg Süd.    Maersk Line and MSC are expanding their 2M Alliance service network in the wake of new slot sharing agreements, the carriers said in a joint statement.
   The two new services, to be added in April, “will enable MSC and Maersk Line to accommodate the incoming volumes from the recently announced slot purchase agreements with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Hamburg Süd,” the carriers said.
    Between, Asia and North Europe, the carriers will add what Maersk is calling the “AE7” and MSC is calling the “Condor” service. The loop will have a port rotation of Shanghai, Tajung Pelepas, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Le Havre, Port Tangier, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Ningbo, and Shanghai.
   On the trade between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, the 2M will launch what Maersk calls the “TP16” and MSC calls the “Emerald” service. The port rotation of that string will be Shanghai, Busan, Panama Canal, Savannah, Norfolk, Charleston, Miami, Freeport, Panama Canal, Hong Kong, Yantian, and Shanghai.
   The number and size of the vessels to be deployed on the new services were not disclosed.
   While Hamburg Süd and HMM will move cargo on the services, they will not operate vessels in the 2M network, according to Maersk. The largest container carrier by volume worldwide, Maersk announced at the end of 2016 it had entered into an agreement to acquire Hamburg Süd, which specializes in the north-south trade lanes not currently covered by the 2M or either of the other two global carrier alliances.
   Silvia Ding, head of trade at Maersk Line said, “Our new slot agreements require that we increase our capacity. With these service improvements we are adding the necessary capacity to match the increase in volumes.”
   Maersk also said it will merge the merge its TP8 and TP3 services between Asia and the US West Coast into one loop. The service, which will be called the TP8 by Maersk and Orient by MSC, will have the following rotation: Xingang, Qingdao, Ningbo, Busan, Yokohama, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, and Xingang.