CKYH Alliance to enter north/south trades

CKYH Alliance to enter north/south trades    Executives from member lines of the Far East-based CKYH Alliance — COSCO Container Lines, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin — said they plan to extend the scope of the alliance by starting services in north/south trades.
   No firm details of new services were offered following the CKYH Summit Meeting held in Tokyo June 7.
   “In addition to the continuous strong demands from the market in recent years, the shipping industry is facing some obstacles such as extreme bunker price, and increase of various operational costs,” the carriers said in a joint statement.
   “The members agreed to study continuously in order to make CKYH’s services the most cost efficient in the industry with further cooperation in terminal operation, regional feeder concept, and any operational conveniences, and to expand capacity in each trade in line with future market growth. An urgent and crucial issue, CKYH also confirmed its necessity to review existing service patterns and rationalize the calling ports especially in Asia/Europe services.”
   The CKYH Alliance operates in the following trades:
   * Asia/North Europe (7 loops)
   * Asia/Mediterranean (6 loops)
   * Asia/U.S. West Coast (14 loops)
   * Asia/U.S. East Coast (5 loops)
   * Transatlantic (4 loops)