MOL ADDS FIVE 6,000-TEU SHIPS TO ASIA/EUROPE TRADE THIS YEAR

MOL ADDS FIVE 6,000-TEU SHIPS TO ASIA/EUROPE TRADE THIS YEAR    MOL will introduce five new 6,000-TEU ships in the Asia/Europe container trade this year as part of the joint services of the New World Alliance with its carrier partners, APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine.
   The large ships will join the alliance’s Japan-Europe Express loop, and replace five MOL ships of about 4,700-TEU capacity. The first ship in the series, the “MOL Precision,” will be deployed at the beginning of March.
   At the same time, New World Alliance carriers publicly confirmed that they will terminate a fortnightly Asia/northern Europe service and a weekly Asia/Mediterranean service, as reported in the American Shipper+ Shippers’ NewsWire dated Feb. 1. The termination of both services reflects attempts by ocean carriers to reduce overcapacity in the Asia/Europe trade. The discontinued services employed four vessels of about 4,400-TEU capacity and eight of about 2,900-TEUs, according to the global liner shipping database ComPairData.
   The remaining Asia/Europe services of the New World Alliance, called Japan-Europe Express (JEX), Asia-Europe Express (AEX) and China-Europe Express (CEX), will be revised next month.
   To pick up cargoes from the discontinued Asia/Mediterranean service, the JEX will start calling at the Mediterranean transshipment hub port of Gioia Tauro. The service will also add a call at Hong Kong eastbound. The JEX loop will have a rotation of Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Gioia Tauro, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Le Havre, Gioia Tauro, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kobe.
   The AEX service will start calling at Gioia Tauro westbound, before its vessels proceed to north European ports.
   “Asia/Europe has shown continued growth over the years, and we expect the volumes to come back,” said Kenneth Glenn, APL vice president, Asia/Europe trade. “But for now, the New World Alliance will have taken out approximately 20 percent of its capacity.”
   The five 4,700-TEU vessels due to be displace from the Asia/Europe trade following the introduction of the five new 6,000-TEU MOL ships will likely move to the transpacific trade, a spokesman for MOL said.