CKYH lines cut 20% of Asia/Europe capacity

CKYH lines cut 20% of Asia/Europe capacity    CKYH Alliance members said Friday there are revising their joint loops between Asia and Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
   COSCO, 'K' Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin said they will pull about 20 percent of their capacity in the trade beginning in October and will offer six revised services — four to Northern Europe and two to Mediterranean ports.
   According to ComPair Data, the carriers operate seven such services — five to Northern Europe and two to the Mediterranean. The two Med loops are largely the same as CKYH’s existing AME and AMX services.
   ComPair Data's Francis Phillips said Hanjin partners with United Arab Shipping Co. on two separate Asia/Med services, with “K” Line buying slots on both services and Yang Ming buying on one of them. That would give three of the four CKYH members one to two extra Asia-Med connections, he said.
   Phillips also said the impact of the capacity withdrawal is slightly mitigated by the fact that some of the remaining services between Asia and Northern Europe will be operated with larger ships on average.
   'With this rationalization, the partner carriers will be able to avoid overlapping of similar service loops and reduce duplicate calling ports, thereby improving efficiency of their service,' the carriers said in a statement.
   The new services have also been renamed — NE 1-4 for the four loops to Northern Europe and MD 1-2 for the two loops to the Mediterranean.
   The rotations are:
   ' NE1 (North Europe 1), operated with eight 8,500-TEU vessels provided by COSCO and Hanjin — Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Nansha, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Singapore and Ningbo.
   ' NE2 (North Europe 2), operated with eight 7,700 to 8,000-TEU ships provided by 'K' Line and Yang Ming — Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Singapore, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Jeddah, Hong Kong, Yantian and Xiamen.
   ' NE3 (North Europe 3), operated with six 8,000-TEU and three 7,700-TEU vessels provided by all four partners — Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Yantian, Singapore, Port Said, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Singapore and Xingang.
   ' NE4 (North Europe 4), operated with three 8,000-TEU and five 7,700-TEU vessels provided by 'K' Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin — Gwangyang, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Singapore, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Port Said, Singapore, Hong Kong and Gwangyang.
   ' MD1 (Mediterranean 1), operated with eight 5,000-TEU vessels provided by all four partners — Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Said, Ashdod, Malta, Naples, Genoa, Livorno, Marseilles Fos, Port Said, Singapore and Busan.
   ' MD2 (Mediterranean 2), operated with eight 6,000-TEU vessels provided by all four partners — Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said, Piraeus, Genoa, La Spezia, Barcelona, Valencia, Singapore and Shanghai. ' Eric Johnson