Hanjin: PSX capacity returns to normal

Hanjin: PSX capacity returns to normal    Hanjin Shipping said Thursday that a pending move in March to increase the size of vessels operating in its PSX service is merely a return to the vessel size normally in operation on the service before the carrier restricted capacity as part its winter schedule.
   American Shipperreported Wednesday that vessel sizes on the transpacific PSX would increase in a few weeks from 5,500-TEU ships to 7,500-TEU ships (The PSX has a current rotation of Yantian, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Gwangyang, Busan, Gwangyang, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Busan and Yantian).
   The Korean line told American Shipper Thursday the reintroduction of 7,500-TEU vessels should be considered a return to the normal capacity on the service, and not as additional capacity. The line also said the 5,500-TEU ships freed up from the PSX would shift to the CAX service, which American Shipper described in detail in the same report Wednesday.
   'It is only part of our overall reshuffling program where the downgrading of vessel sizes in the (Pacific Northwest) route and others is taking place simultaneously,' Hanjin said. 'As a result, there is no significant change in our capacity in the transpacific trade.'
   As for the CAX, Hanjin said the inclusion of the Mexican port of Manzanillo is the primary reason for shifting larger vessels into that service. The line added that it's the first direct service to Manzanillo from Asia for Hanjin.