Senator Lines to join new Europe/East Coast South America loop

Senator Lines to join new Europe/East Coast South America loop German ocean carrier Senator Lines, a subsidiary of Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, said today it will take space on the new weekly North Europe/East Coast South America joint service of “K” Line, China Shipping Container Lines, Maruba and Hatsu Marine.
   The service, which Senator Lines is marketing as ESX, is set to start March 20 using six 2,000-TEU ships calling Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Itajai, Santos and back to Rotterdam.
   “K” Line and China Shipping will each provide two of the vessels, while Hatsu and Maruba will each provide one ship to the service.
   All four carriers will be new entrants into the trade, but Senator Lines already has a presence by virtue of taking slots on a service operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co. A spokesman for Senator Line told American Shipper it would stop taking slots on the MSC loop from the second half of the year.
   The Bremen-based line recently cut back its staff levels and participation on six Asia/Europe services as part of its “Concept 2007,” designed to improve its results and secure its long-term competitiveness.
   “Definitely the ESX is not only a further service for our customers; it also indicates that we are off to a flying start again and that, following our internal reorganization, we can concentrate fully on the market and on our services,” said Hans-Hermann Mohr, Senator Lines’ chief executive officer.