BWR: Ocean carriers decrease Asia-ECSA capacity

MOL will terminate its current CSW loop, while MSC and Maersk Line’s jointly operated Ipanema Service/ASAS3 will see MOL upgrade from a slot purchaser to a vessel provider and add additional calls in South America.    Ocean carrier MOL will terminate its current CSW loop this month and upgrade from a slot purchaser to a vessel provider on MSC and Maersk Line’s jointly operated Ipanema Service/ASAS3 loop, which will add calls at Navegantes and Itajai.
   Both of these loops operate from Asia, the East Coast of South America, Africa and back to Asia.
   The last voyage of MOL’s current CSW will be the Feb. 10 sailing of the MOL Premium from Yantian, according to the Japanese ocean carrier’s most recent online service schedules.
   The service has a rotation of Yantian, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Singapore, Santos, Sepetiba, Sao Francisco do Sul, Navegantes, Itajai, Santos, Sepetiba, Cape Town, Durban, Singapore and Yantian. MOL operates the CSW with a total of 10 vessels with an average capacity of 5,865 TEUs, according to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting.
   MOL provides all 10 vessels, while Maersk Line and MSC both purchase slots on the soon-to-be-terminated loop.
   In addition to the suspension of the CSW, MSC and Maersk Line’s jointly operated Ipanema Service/ASAS3, will add calls at Navegantes and Itajai, resulting in a revised rotation of Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Navegantes, Itajai, Paranagua, Santos, Ngqura, Singapore, Hong Kong and Busan, MSC said.
   MOL will become a vessel provider on the loop, resulting in MSC providing five vessels, with Maersk providing four vessels and MOL providing three, MOL said. The loop will operate with 12 vessels with an average capacity of 8,000 TEUs, according to MOL.
   With these changes, MOL will refer to the Ipanema Service/ASAS3, which it currently dubs the SW2, as the “new” CSW loop. According to MOL, these changes will take effect Feb. 19.
   Overall, 12 container shipping carriers currently deploy capacity across a total of five loops that serve the Asia to East Coast of South America trade, as illustrated by BlueWater Reporting’s Carrier Trade Route Deployment Report and Capacity Report applications. Together, these five services deploy a total of 40,848 TEUs a week towards the trade (based off their average vessel size).
   The adjacent chart illustrates that when MOL’s current CSW loop is terminated, and assuming the soon to be adjusted Ipanema Service/ASAS3’s average vessel size will be exactly 8,000 TEUs, 14.9 percent less capacity will be deployed from Asia to the East Coast of South America each week.
   Once these changes take effect, 12 container shipping carriers will continue to deploy capacity on the trade. However, they will only deploy 34,760 TEUs a week (based off average vessel size) from Asia to the East Coast of South America through four loops.