CKYHS ALLIANCE CUTS ATLANTIC CAPACITY, REVAMPS ASIA/U.S. EAST COAST LINKS

CKYHS ALLIANCE CUTS ATLANTIC CAPACITY, REVAMPS ASIA/U.S. EAST COAST LINKS    The CKYHS alliance carriers — COSCO Container Lines, “K”Line, Yang Ming Marine Transport, Hanjin Shipping and its subsidiary Senator Lines — have announced a revamp of their transatlantic and Asia/U.S. East Coast services, scheduled for January, that will lead to reductions in their transatlantic vessel capacity.
   In the U.S./northern Europe trade, the carriers will replace two Asia/U.S. East Coast/northern Europe pendulum services by a single end-to-end U.S./northern Europe service. The new “Trans Atlantic Service” of the carrier group will employ four ships of 3,800-TEU capacity and call at Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Le Havre, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, New York and Antwerp.
   This will mean a reduction in capacity of 2,700 TEUs a week in the U.S./northern Europe trade by the CKYHS alliance carriers.
   “In the transatlantic (U.S. East Coast/North Europe) service, COSCO Container Lines, “K”Line, Yang Ming, and Hanjin combined two loops — one (AUE) is operated by COSCO,”K”Line and Yang Ming and the other (AWP) by Hanjin — into one to improve operation efficiency,” the carriers said in a joint statement. Other transatlantic loops serving U.S. Gulf and Mediterranean ports will remain unchanged.
   “All the carriers — not just Hanjin — evaluated that the first priority is to make profits,” S.H. Kwon, spokesman for Hanjin, told American Shipper.
   The five carriers have also revised their three Asia/U.S. East Coast all-water services via Panama, and added some capacity to these services. The Asia/U.S. East Coast all-water segment of the transpacific trade is seen as growing.
   Previously, the carriers operated three Asia/U.S. East Coast services via Panama — the AUE and AWP pendulum services and the AWE end-to-end service. Instead, they will now provide three end-to-end services.
   “Harmonizing operations on the three current loops will make it possible to offer higher quality customer service,” the carriers said. “At present, the four lines are operating the following loops: AUE by COSCO Container Lines, “K”Line and Yang Ming, AWE by Yang Ming and Hanjin, and AWP by Hanjin.”
   The new AWE1 link will utilize eight ships of 4,024 TEUs and call at Shanghai, Yantian, Hong Kong, Pusan, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Tokyo, Pusan and Shanghai.
   The AWE2 loop, with eight vessels of 3,800-TEU capacity, will have a rotation of Qingdao, Yantian, Hong Kong, Charleston, Norfolk, New York, Boston and Qingdao.
   The AWE3 will employ nine vessels with sizes of 3,500 to 4,000 TEUs, calling at Yantian, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Pusan, Savannah, New York, Wilmington, Savannah, Kaohsiung and Yantian.
   The revisions to the alliance’s all-water services will add about 1,300 TEUs a week to their Asia/U.S. East Coast capacity.
   The changes within the alliance will be effective from January 2003, subject to regulatory approval.
   The U.S. East Coast/Mediterranean “TAS3” service of the alliance, and Hanjin’s Asia/Suez Canal/Mediterranean/U.S. East Coast “AMA” service will remain unchanged.