Ocean carriers form VSA on Asia-Australia loops

Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. said it will form a new vessel sharing agreement with Maersk Line, Hamburg Sud and MOL on two Asia-Australia loops in May 2017.    Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) announced a new vessel sharing agreement (VSA) on the Asia-Australia Wallaby and Panda services.
   The new VSA will take effect May 2017 and will include Maersk Line, MSC, Hamburg Sud and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).
   MSC said the Wallaby service to and from Northeast Asia will continue to operate between Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai (Yangshan), Ningbo, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama. MSC also said the loop will maintain the same transit times and the last vessel under the current VSA, the ER France, has an estimated time of arrival in Yokohama of May 2, 2017.
   Ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting shows the loop also currently calls Laem Chabang, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Fremantle and Adelaide, but MSC, along with several other carriers on the loop, do not call these ports. Therefore, it is not clear if these calls will remain on the loop once the new VSA takes effect.
   BlueWater Reporting shows the current vessel operators on the loop include Maersk, MSC and Safmarine, with slot purchasers including APL, Hamburg Sud and its subsidiary line Alianca, Hapag-Lloyd and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM).
   Meanwhile, MSC said the Panda service will see improved South China coverage as a result of the additions of Xiamen and Nansha ports. The new rotation of the Panda service will be Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Kaohsiung.
   MSC said the last vessel under the loop’s current VSA will be with the Cap Frio with an estimated time of arrivel in Kaohsiung on May 4, 2017. Currently, Maersk, Hamburg Sud and HMM deploy vessels on the loop, with slot purchasers including MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, Alianca and APL, according to BlueWater Reporting.