PO Shipping-TS Lines to expand TP network

PO Shipping-TS Lines to expand TP network    Two small Asia-based carriers that last year entered the transpacific trade have plans to significantly augment their capacity between Asia and North America ahead of peak season, according to a note this week in the maritime news service Alphaliner.
   China-based Hainan PO Shipping and Taiwan-based TS Lines, which have run a single transpacific service, will expand to three in May.
   The lines' CAE service, which started in August 2010, has a rotation of Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Oakland and Hong Kong, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data. It operates with five vessels, four from PO Shipping and one from TS Lines, with an average capacity of 3,098 TEUs. TS Lines, a prominent intra-Asia carrier, joined the service in September.
   According to Alphaliner, the new service network will include three loops — TP1, TP2 and TP3 — to be served by 14 ships. The new services would increase the lines' weekly capacity from around 3,000 TEUs to about 9,000 TEUs.
   The rotations, which focus on regional clusters in China and also include new calls in Busan, are:
   ' TP1 — Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach and Ningbo; operates with four vessels, three from PO Shipping and one from TS Lines, of 2,700 to 3,100-TEUs capacity.
   ' TP2 — Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland and Hong Kong; operates with five vessels, three from PO Shipping and two from TS Lines, of 3,100 to 3,700 TEUs.
   ' TP3 — Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland, Busan and Qingdao; operates with five vessels, three from PO Shipping and two from TS Lines, of 2,500 to 3,100 TEUs.
   The new services are part of what Alphaliner is saying will be excessive capacity on the transpacific this season. It has revised upward its projection for capacity growth in 2011 to 14 percent, far in excess of what the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement has projected. The two new PO Shipping/TS Lines services would bring the number of new services on the transpacific to eight, adding an estimated 30,000 TEUs of weekly capacity.
   According to ComPair Data, there are 240,401 TEUs of weekly transpacific capacity (including 185,377 TEUs to the West Coast of North America). So 30,000 TEUs would represent a 12.5 percent increase on current levels, assuming no capacity is pulled.
   Incidentally, weekly transpacific capacity levels are 16.4 percent lower than they were one year ago. ' Eric Johnson