3 lines expand Asia-Mideast-Europe partnership

   The liner carriers CMA CGM, China Shipping, and UASC will expand their cooperation on the Asia-Europe trade from February to a jointly run Asia-Middle East service, according to a notice last week from UASC.
   The service is particularly notable because it will be operated with ships of between 12,500 and 14,000 TEUs, which would be the biggest ships deployed in a service not touching European or North American ports. 
   The three lines currently run a joint Asia-Europe service – dubbed AEX 7 by China Shipping, FAL 2 by CMA CGM, and AEC 8 by UASC – along with Evergreen Line. The lines will continue to run this service with larger vessels, with Evergreen dropping off the service. The revised rotation will also include stops in both directions in Jeddah.
   The revised rotation will be Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Hong Kong, Yantian, Port Kelang, Jeddah, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Jeddah, Port Kelang, and Shanghai. According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the average vessel size on the service is currently 11,369 TEUs. From early February it will be operated with vessels of 13,000 to 14,000 TEUs (six from China Shipping, three from UASC, and one from CMA CGM).
   Meanwhile, the three lines will jointly run an Asia-Middle East service that will see two separate existing services on the trade merged into one. UASC’s standalone seven-ship AGX1 service will merge with China Shipping’s and CMA CGM’s six-ship AMA/CIMEX service. Both existing services have nearly identical rotations. 
   The AGX1/AMA CIMEX merged rotation will be Xingang, Dalian, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Port Kelang, Jebel Ali, Khor Fakkan, Port Kelang, Nansha, and Tianjin. The only change to either service is a dropped call in Dammam from the China Shipping/CMA CGM service.
   The existing AGX1 is operated with seven vessels with an average capacity of 5,664 TEUs. The existing AMA/CIMEX is operated with six vessels (four from China Shipping and two from CMA CGM) with an average capacity 8,399 TEUs. The merged service will be operated with seven vessels (three each from UASC and China Shipping and one from CMA CGM).
   Though two services will be merged into one, weekly capacity will hardly be affected by the move, since the service will also be operated with vessels of between 12,500 and 14,000 TEUs. The deployment “shows that mega-vessels can be operated in other trades than Asia–Europe,” CMA CGM told American Shipper.
   Meanwhile, in a separate notice from UASC, the line said it will begin providing vessels on an Asia-Mediterranean service run by China Shipping on which it currently takes slots. China Shipping’s AMX1 service is currently operated with nine vessels with an average capacity of 5,641 TEUs. Aside from UASC, which calls the service AMC1, Hanjin Shipping also take slots.
   Under the new deployment, China Shipping will operate seven 8,500-TEU vessels and UASC will provide three 7,000-TEU vessels, increasing the number of total ships on the service from nine to 10 (indicating the service speed will be slowed), while also vastly increasing the average size of vessels deployed.
   UASC said the rotation of the service will be unchanged, at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Port Kelang, Port Said, La Spezia, Genoa, Marseilles-Fos, Barcelona, Valencia, Port Said, Jeddah, Khor Fakkan, Port Kelang, and Qingdao. — Eric Johnson