CKYH to split its PNW butterfly loop

CKYH to split its PNW butterfly loop    CKYH Alliance lines COSCO, 'K' Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin will split their Far East/Pacific Northwest butterfly loop into two separate services, according to a note Monday from Alphaliner and confirmed by American Shipper research affiliate ComPair Data.
   The split service will not drop any calls, and will in fact add a Ningbo call.
   'The FE-PNW services thus revert to the pattern which the carriers used until mid-2007, before the two services (PNW North Loop and PNW South Loop) were merged in July 2007,' Alphaliner said. 'There is however a major difference: the two new separate loops are to be operated with five ships each instead of four ships each in the pre-July 2007 pattern. The two new services are thus slower loops run in (extra-slow-steaming) mode.'
   The new rotation of the north loop, according to Yang Ming's Web site, will be Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Busan, Gwangyang and Ningbo.
   The new south loop rotation will be Hong Kong, Yantian, Yokohama, Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Seattle, Yokohama, and Hong Kong.
   The new rotations are due to go into effect from the end of February.
   The current service is operated with nine vessels averaging 5,437 TEUs, all provided by COSCO Container Lines and Hanjin Shipping, while Yang Ming and 'K' Line buy slots. Alphaliner said the new split service will be operated with five vessels each, ranging in size from 4,300 TEUs to 5,800 TEUs.