HAMBURG-SUD JOINS PARTNERS IN AUSTRALIAN ROUND-THE-WORLD SERVICE

HAMBURG-SUD JOINS PARTNERS IN AUSTRALIAN ROUND-THE-WORLD SERVICE    Hamburg Sud, the parent company of Columbus Line, has signed an agreement with P&O Nedlloyd, Contship Containerlines, CMA CGM and Marfret to introduce new round-the-world container services connecting Australia and New Zealand to Europe and North America.
   “The lines will rationalize resources to create both Eastabout and Westabout round-the-world rotations,” Hamburg Sud said.
   The joint round-the-world services will replace separate, existing Europe/Australasia and North America/Australian services. The services will commence in November, subject to regulatory approval.
   The services will incorporate the Australia/New Zealand/East Coast of North America vessel-sharing agreement between Hamburg Sud's Columbus Line subsidiary and P&O Nedlloyd.
   Columbus Line will also use the new configuration to open new service for its customers between Australasia and Europe, further expanding its global coverage.
   The Eastabout service will provide weekly sailings from Australia/New Zealand to the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal, continuing on to Europe and then returning to Australia/New Zealand via the Suez Canal. It will operate using 10 new 4,100-TEU (1,300 reefer slots) vessels being phased in by the partner lines.
   The Westabout service will sail from the U.S. East Coast through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Islands and Australia/New Zealand, then to Southeast Asia, the Suez Canal and Europe, before returning to the U.S. East Coast. It will utilize 12 2,100-TEU ships. A Hamburg Sud-named vessel will participate in each of the two round-the-world rotations.
   Port rotations for each string are still being finalized and service participants expect to announce those details soon.
   Columbus Line said the new service configuration would improve the North America/Australasia service frequency from the current nine to 10 days to weekly, and trim six days off current transits between key ports in Australia/New Zealand and Philadelphia. It will also expand reefer capacity.
   The introduction of the round-the-world rotations will not affect the weekly service of Columbus and partners linking Australia/New Zealand and the West Coast North America.