Grand Alliance adds Vietnam to Loop D

Grand Alliance adds Vietnam to Loop D    The Grand Alliance has resumed weekly sailings of its Loop D Asia/Europe service, according to a notice from member Hapag-Lloyd.
   Alliance members Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL and NYK Line in October made the service a biweekly loop through the end of February to scale back on capacity during the winter season. It's one of four Asia/Europe loops operated by the lines.
   Loop D, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, has a rotation of Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Yantian, Singapore, Southampton, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Singapore, Shanghai and Busan. It operates with 11 vessels with average capacity of 5,814 TEUs, though six of the vessels are unallocated due to the service's biweekly nature through February. Before the change in October, the service was operated with 10 ships, with OOCL providing five ships, NYK three and Hapag-Lloyd two.
   Also, the lines will add a call at Ho Chi Minh City to the service, which Hapag-Lloyd brands EUD, beginning March 23. The line said transit times from Ho Chi Minh City will be 22 days to Southampton, 24 days to Le Havre, 26 days to Hamburg and 28 days to Rotterdam. That indicates the Ho Chi Minh City stop will be added before Singapore on the rotation. The Vietnam stop will be the first for GA members between Asia and Europe.