CKYH alliance to phase in 7,500-TEU boxships in Pacific

CKYH alliance to phase in 7,500-TEU boxships in Pacific    The CKYH alliance of COSCO Container Lines, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping will introduce 7,500-TEU containerships in the transpacific trade next year. The move forms part of a plan to upgrade the capacity of the transpacific and Asia/Europe services that form part of a combined U.S. West Coast/Asia/North Europe/Asia/U.S. West Coast “pendulum” service.
   Hanjin, which combined its former “PSX” transpacific service and “NEX” Asia/Europe service earlier this year into a single “Pendulum Express Service,” said the two parts of the service will be revised next year.
   At present, the pendulum service employs 12 ships of about 5,000-TEU capacities to cover both trades. From June 2005, the “PSX” transpacific service will operate separately with vessels of 7,500 TEUs. In 2006 and 2007, the “NEX” Asia/Europe part of the service will use ships of about 6,500 TEUs instead of the 5,000-TEU tonnage, Hanjin said.
   The Asian alliance’s plan is the latest market signal that carriers are moving to vessels of more than 7,000 TEUs in the transpacific trade and that U.S. West Coast ports should be ready to handle such large ships. China Shipping Container Lines, COSCO Container Lines and CMA CGM have all recently deployed their first 7,000-TEU-plus ships in the Pacific trade, emulating OOCL and Maersk Sealand. Ships of 7,000 TEUs or more have been more common in the Asia/Europe trade than in the transpacific. There are no 7,000-TEU-plus vessels in the transatlantic trade.
   Hanjin’s “Pendulum Express Service” has a rotation of Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantian, Port Kelang, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Le Havre, Port Kelang, Yantian, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle.
   In a separate development, CKYH alliance carrier Yang Ming is scheduling this month a one-off “extra loader” sailing from Asia to the U.S. East Coast via Panama. The 3,000-TEU “Yang Ming Cairo” will sail from Yantian, Hong Kong and Kaohsiung to New York.
   “At the moment, the Asia-to-U.S.-East-Coast trade is booming,” a Yang Ming official told Shippers’ NewsWire.
   The chartered ship will be redelivered to its owners in Europe.