U.S./Australia/NZ VSA cancels Los Angeles call

U.S./Australia/NZ VSA cancels Los Angeles call    Hamburg Sud confirmed its U.S. West Coast/Australia/New Zealand vessel-sharing agreement with P&O Nedlloyd, ANZDL, FESCO and Maersk Sealand has reduced from twice a week to weekly its number of calls at the port of Los Angeles.
   “Faced with continuing congestion problems and mounting delays in working vessels at the port of Los Angeles/Long each, Hamburg Sud is adjusting its Australia/New Zealand/West Coast North America Service vessel rotations,” the German carrier said.
   The Pacific Southwest (PSW) service of the VSA now has a rotation of Oakland, Ensenada (fortnightly), Los Angeles, Tauranga, Melbourne, Sydney, Tauranga, Suva (fortnightly) and Oakland. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) link calls at Seattle/Vancouver (alternating), Oakland, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Suva or Papeete and back to Seattle.
   The revised transit times of the services are posted on ComPair Data, the global liner-shipping database, at www.compairdata.com .
   Hamburg Sud said the PSW rotation will call weekly at Los Angeles with six days built into the schedule to allow for delays at the port. A vessel from the PNW service has been transferred to the PSW rotation to help sustain weekly frequency in the face of the delays. The PNW service will now operate on an eight-to-nine-day frequency. A Hamburg Sud spokesman said it is hoped the schedule revision will be temporary.