COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming to replace Med/USEC service with MSC slots

COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming to replace Med/USEC service with MSC slots

COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming to replace Med/USEC service with MSC slots

COSCO, 'K' Line and Yang Ming Line of the CKYH Alliance will take slots from Mediterranean Shipping Co. in the Mediterranean/U.S. East Coast trade from September, to replace their own TAS-3 loop, which is being terminated.
   Switzerland-based MSC deploys five vessels averaging about 2,500 TEUs on a full port rotation of Valencia; Naples; La Spezia; Sines; Boston; New York; Baltimore; Norfolk, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; and back to Valencia.
   Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, neither COSCO, “K” Line nor Yang Ming will serve Sines in Portugal, Boston or Baltimore on the loop, which they will market as TAS-6.
   Korea’s Hanjin Shipping was not a part of the TAS-3 and will not participate on MSC’s service.
   TAS-3 uses four ships averaging slightly less than 1,500 TEUs, meaning its demise will reduce the annual one-way capacity in the trade by about 77,000 TEUs. According to latest World Liner Supply report of ComPairData, American Shipper’s affiliated global liner services database at www.compairdata.com, that figure represents about 3.4 percent of the yearly westbound Mediterranean/North America tonnage, which stood at 2.23 million TEUs at July 1.
   ComPairData also shows that “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin will still have their own link between the United States and Mediterranean with calls at Port Said in Egypt on the weekly Singapore-India-North America (SINA) service in partnership with United Arab Shipping Co. COSCO is not involved on SINA.