CMA CGM, CHINA SHIPPING TO CUT BACK PACIFIC SERVICES

CMA CGM, CHINA SHIPPING TO CUT BACK PACIFIC SERVICES    CMA CGM and China Shipping Container Line are considering a cut-back of one of their joint transpacific services.
   The five-ship “Shanghai Express” service, also known as the “Asia America Central” service, will be changed and rationalized to reduce the number of port calls, said Rodolphe Saade, senior vice president of CMA CGM.
   Saade said that the changes are currently under study and a decision will be made this week.
   Zim Israel Navigation and Norasia Container Lines also take space on the weekly service, which employs vessels averaging 2,500 TEUs.
   The Asia American Central loop. launched last year when transpacific traffic was booming, has called at Los Angeles, Oakland, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kwangyang, Busan, Los Angeles and Oakland.
   By contrast, CMA CGM said that it is adding capacity to its Mediterranean/Asia/U.S. West Coast “Mediterranean-Transpacific Express” service, by introducing larger ships of about 4,000 TEUs to replace smaller units of 3,250 TEUs. Four 4,000-TEU ships have been phased in this year, and the remaining eight vessels in the 12-ship service will be deployed by the end of next year, Saade said.
   The service has a long rotation that includes calls at Port Kelang, Singapore, Yantian, Hong Kong, Keelung, Los Angeles and Oakland, as well as at Genoa, Naples, Fos, Barcelona and Malta in the Mediterranean.
   China Shipping and Norasia take space on the “Mediterranean-Transpacific Express” service of CMA CGM.