Grand Alliance jumps on Zim’s Asia/Black Sea

Grand Alliance jumps on ZimÆs Asia/Black Sea Grand Alliance carriers said Monday they are hopping back into the Asia/East Mediterranean-Black Sea trade by buying slots on Zim’s EMX service.
   Alliance members NYK Line, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd and MISC Berhad recently suspended their ABX service, but said they would work out another solution for their customers to ensure the trade was covered.
   Zim’s EMX service has a port rotation of Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Port Kelang, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Istanbul, Novorossiysk, Constanta, Istanbul, Nhava Sheva, Colombo, Port Kelang, Shekou and Busan. Zim last week just added calls at Nhava Sheva in both directions of the service. It also changed the Russian port of call in the Black Sea from Illichevsk to Novorossiysk.
   The alliance’s ABX service, which ended last week, had a port rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Istanbul, Constanta, Odessa, Constanta, Istanbul, Damietta, Jeddah, Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong and Shekou.