Bigger ships tested in Far East/South America trade

Bigger ships tested in Far East/South America trade Ships of 4,000 TEUs are starting to show up in the Far East/West Coast South America trade.
   In its newsletter released Tuesday, AXS-Alphaliner said Hamburg S'd has followed the lead of Mediterranean Shipping Co. in deploying the larger ships on the less-heralded transpacific trade.
   'After the 4,253-TEU MSC Kim, which has been employed on the MSC’s Asia-Andes Express last spring (she has since left), it is now Hamburg S'd which is testing the waters with the brand new 4,298-TEU Cap Gilbert, assigned to the Asia-Mexico-WCSA Express NAX loop run jointly with CCNI,' the newsletter said. 'The largest ships commonly found today on WCSA trades do not exceed 3,600 TEUs. Ships of the 3,500-TEU class are themselves a recent development, having been introduced for the first time on a Maersk Line service in March 2006 (service has since been revamped). Hamburg S'd itself introduced its first 3,600-TEU ships on the FE-WCSA trade last April.'
   Hayes Howard of ComPair Data, (www.compairdata.com) American Shipper’s affiliated database for global liner services, said, 'Despitelarger vessels being deployed in the trade, the estimated capacity between the Far East and the West Coast of South America decreased 6 percent in the third quarter from 12,728 TEUs on July 1 to 11,954 TEUs on Oct. 1.