Hanjin, HMM and YM to launch joint Asia-WCSA string

The new container service will connect ports in China, Taiwan and South Korea with Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.    Ocean carriers Hanjin Shipping, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming Marine Transportation Corp. will commence a new weekly service between Asia and Latin America July 11, 2015.
   According to a statement from Hanjin, the West Latin Express/South America Loop 2 (WLX/SA2) will be operated with 10 vessels with an average capacity of 4,500-5,500 TEUs.
   The port rotation of the WLX/SA2 will be Shekou, Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan , Manzanillo (Mexico), Buenaventura, Callao, Valparaiso, San Vicente, Manzanillo (Mexico), Busan, and back to Shekou.
   Hanjin and HMM currently offer two other direct services in the approximately 49,000-TEU per week Asia-West Coast South America trade, according to ocean carrier and schedule database BlueWater Reporting. Hanjin provides two of the 10 vessels on its joint 6,089-TEU average ASPA/NAX loop with Hamburg Süd, CSCL and CCNI, on which HMM takes slots along with Hamburg Süd subsidiary Alianca. Both carriers purchase slots on the joint CSAV, Hamburg Süd, MSC, CCNI and CMA CGM service ASPA/ACSA5, which operates with 12 vessels with an average capacity of 7,615 TEUs.
   South American trade has been an area of particular interest in the liner industry lately. First, German carrier Hapag-Lloyd completed a full-scale operational merger with Chilean company CSAV in December of 2014. Since then, industry giant Maersk Line launched its intra-American brand SeaLand, while fellow German line Hamburg Süd announced a cooperative agreement with CMA CGM and a potential purchase of CCNI of Chile.
   Hanjin said of the announcement, “the introduction of this new service will improve transit times and provide extensive port coverage from Asia to the West Coast of Latin America including Mexico, and vice versa.”