Hapag-Lloyd buys slots on Asia/Australia link

Hapag-Lloyd buys slots on Asia/Australia link    Container line Hapag-Lloyd has joined a Far East/Australia service operated by ANL, China Shipping and OOCL, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
   Hapag-Lloyd has become a slot buyer on the AANA service, which has a rotation of Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama.
   The service is operated with five vessels averaging 4,316 TEUs, with ANL providing three vessels and OOCL and China Shipping one each.
   According to ComPair Data, Hapag-Lloyd has a limited direct role in the trade, providing one ship on the CAS service in which APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Maersk Line and Evergreen Line also provide one vessel each. Hapag-Lloyd also provided a vessel on the Hamburg Sud-led peak season AAP service launched in July, but maritime news service Alphaliner said Monday that loop is shutting down due to poor demand, suggesting Hapag-Lloyd and other carriers involved in that loop are taking slots on other services.
   Hapag-Lloyd also buys slots on four other Asia/Australia services — both loops of the COSCO/MOL-led NZJ service, the Maersk- and MSC-operated Boomerang service, and the five-ship CAX service operated by three intra-Asia carriers.
   The AANA that Hapag-Lloyd is joining, along with the Maersk-MSC Boomerang service, uses the largest vessels on the lane.