BWR: OOCL, COSCON and ANL unveil proposed A3 consortium

Ocean carriers OOCL, COSCON and ANL announced a joint offering called the Asia Australia consortium, which will provide container service on three weekly loops between North Asia and Oceania market.
Source: BlueWater Reporting

   Ocean carriers Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), COSCO Container Lines (COSCON) and CMA CGM’s subsidiary line ANL have announced a joint service offering called the Asia Australia consortium (A3).
   Three services will be offered on a competitive basis with comprehensive coverage in the North Asia-Australia market.
   Ten major North Asian ports will connect with the Australian ports of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
   The three loops currently comprising the A3 are the Northern Express, the Central Express and the Southern Express. All three services are to be offered weekly, with tentative port rotations as followed:
     • The Northern Express will run from Yokohama to Osaka, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Kaohsiung, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama;
     • The Central Express will run from Shanghai to Ningbo, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and back to Shanghai;
     • And the Southern Express will run from Kaohsiung to Xiamen, Shekou, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and back to Kaohsiung.
   The Northern Express will have the fastest transit times in the market from Kaohsiung to Melbourne, while the Central Express and Southern Express will have the quickest transit times from Shanghai to both Shekou and Sydney, according to OOCL.
   The A3 plans to launch in September or October, pending regulatory approval.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, ANL, OOCL and COSCON operate vessels and purchase slots on several services in the Asia-Oceania market.
   The carriers work together on three services in the trade, one of which is the ANZEX, jointly operated by CMA CGM, OOCL, PIL and CSCL. ANL, COSCO, PDL and US Lines all purchase slots on the loop.
   In addition, the carriers also work together on the SAS, jointly operated by COSCO, CMA CGM and CSCL; with ANL, “K” Line, Maersk, MOL, OOCL and PIL as slot purchasers.
   The trio also works together on the AEA1/AUS1, which is operated by OOCL, CSCL and COSCO. ANL and CMA CGM purchase slots on the loop.
   The chart above, built using data from BlueWater Reporting’s Carrier Trade Route Deployment Report and Capacity Report applications, compare the weekly allocated capacity and number of vessels deployed by ANL, COSCON and OOCL in the Asia-Oceania market.
   ANL deploys five vessels on the Asia-Oceania market, with a  weekly allocated capacity of 3,041 TEUs, while COSCON also deploys five vessels on the trade, with a weekly allocated capacity of 4,607 TEUs. OOCL deploys 13 vessels with a much larger weekly allocated capacity of 11,506 TEUs.
   In sum, these three carriers deploy 24 vessels on this trade and allocate 19,154 TEUs a week towards the trade, representing nearly 25 percent of the overall market.  All numbers are based on July 2016 capacity levels.