Carriers alter Asia/Australia service

Carriers alter Asia/Australia service    An ocean service connecting China and Taiwan with Australia's three biggest cities will undergo an overhaul in late March, according to research by American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
   The CAS service, operated with ships from APL, Hamburg S'd, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Evergreen, will shrink from a six-ship, 42-day round trip to a five-ship, 35-day round trip. Most notably, the service will stop calling at Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai and Ningbo, and will add a call at Chiwan.
   The revised rotation will be Kaohsiung, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Kaohsiung. It will operate with two Hamburg S'd vessels, and one each from APL, Hyundai and Evergreen (APL operates two ships in the current rotation).
   No information was immediately available about how, or if, the lines may cover for the dropped ports through other services. According to ComPair Data, Hamburg S'd and Evergreen have coverage between the dropped Chinese ports and Australia on a Maersk Line/Mediterranean Shipping co. service, called Boomerang, though that service operates on a far slower schedule than the CAS. Hamburg S'd also has some coverage on its NZJ loops to Oceania.