CMA CGM will charter slots on two ‘THE Alliance’ services

The French ocean carrier will buy space on a service between North Europe and the West Coast of North America, as well as on a service between Japan and California.    CMA CGM and “THE Alliance” have entered into a space charter agreement between ports in North Europe – the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France – and the West Coast of North America.
   THE Alliance is comprised of Hapag-Lloyd of Germany; Yang Ming of Taiwan; and NYK, MOL and “K” Line of Japan.
   According to Agreement No. 012462 filed with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), starting on or around April 1, THE Alliance will sell 350 slots to CMA CGM on each weekly sailing on its AL5 service. The number of slots that CMA CGM buys may be modified in a range between 175 and 525 without amendment to the agreement.
   The rotation of the service, as posted on the website of Hapag-Lloyd, is Vancouver, Canada.; Oakland, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Balboa, Panama, a Caribbean hub, Savannah, a United Kingdom port, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Le Havre, Savannah, a Caribbean hub, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle/Tacoma and Vancouver, Canada.
   CMA CGM, which will be a member of the Ocean Alliance with COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen Line and OOCL, “may not slot charter or sub-charter slots made available to it” under the agreement, the FMC filing said.
   Separately, CMA CGM has entered into an agreement to purchase 500 TEUs from NYK (at 10 tons average per TEU and including 43 reefer plugs) on THE Alliance’s Pacific South Loop 1 (PS1) service beginning on or around April 1.
   FMC Agreement No. 012464 says the number of slots can be increased to as much as 750 TEUs or lowered to 250 TEUs without modification to the agreement.
   The PS1 has a rotation of Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, Sendai, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe, according to Hapag-Lloyd’s website.