Asia/Australia link loses southern loop

Asia/Australia link loses southern loop    APL, Hamburg S'd, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Evergreen are reducing capacity in their joint service connecting Northeast Asia and Australia.
   The carriers are taking 3,200 TEUs of nominal weekly capacity out of their AAS from February through June by idling the southern loop of the service. The carriers said the northern AAS loop would be amended to ensure coverage of ports normally in the southern loop in Taiwan, South China and Hong Kong.
   Beginning Feb. 1 the AAS service will have a port rotation of Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Kaohsiung and Busan. The service will be deployed with six 3,600-TEU vessels.
   “The AAS Consortium partners will review the trade prospects in June,” the carriers said in a statement. “Should the trade situation improve sufficiently to warrant additional capacity the AAS Southern loop will be re-established.”