Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) and Hapag-Lloyd (OTC: HPGLY) announced new container services from East Asia to the U.S. Port of Long Beach.
The additions by the Gemini Cooperation partners, which include the redeployment of at least one ship back into the eastbound trans-Pacific to U.S. West Coast trade, come as carriers scale up during a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs by China and the United States.
Maersk’s Gemini TP9 service will be covering East China and North East Asia to Long Beach. The port rotation is Xiamen, China – Busan, South Korea – Long Beach – and return to Xiamen.
The first sailing is the 4,600-TEU Rhone Maersk on June 24, with a return from Long Beach scheduled for July 15. The ship is being phased out of a West Africa-Asia service.
Hapag-Lloyd will operate the 4,250-TEU Synergys Keelung on the same eastbound rotation from Xiamen on July 1.
The new service adds an additional 1.2% of capacity to the Pacific trade into the U.S. West Coast, said analyst Lars Jensen, in a LinkedIn post.
In the past week container vessel capacity on the trans-Pacific grew by 11%, according to Sea-Intelligence.
Also, Maersk hiked its peak season surcharge from the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East to the U.S. and Canada East and Gulf coasts. The charge increases from up to $500 depending on origin/destination to an additional $500 as of next Monday from South and East India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The carrier said as of June 16, across-the-board surcharges will be $1,500-2,000 per container.
Hapag-Lloyd said waiting times are rising at North China and other ports due to congestion, and intermittent port closures caused by strong winds and dense fog.
Wait times range from 24-72 hours at Shanghai Yangshan; 24-36 hours at Ningbo, China; 24-72 hours at Qingdao, China; 12-36 hours at Singapore; an average of 18 hours at Busan, South Korea but 72 hours at PNIT Terminal. Japan’s Yokohama has waits from 12-24 hours.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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