Slow-steaming coming fast

Slow-steaming coming fast    As the busy container shipping season draws to a close and carriers brace for a long, cold winter, there are signs shipping lines will once again turn to a slow-steaming strategy to cut down on fuel consumption and absorb excess vessel capacity.
   Earlier this week, Maersk Line announced it would be slow-steaming all of its Asia/Europe services beginning at the end of November.
   However, ComPair Data research shows that one such service — Maersk's AE3 — will begin slow-steaming as of Nov. 4. The service is jointly operated by CMA CGM, which calls it BEX, and connects 10 hub ports in the Far East and Southeast Asia with a host of Black Sea ports and Middle East hubs. The service recently added an 11th ship, with no change of frequency, indicating it will slow down speeds.
   Another sign of slow-steaming also comes from another Maersk cooperative service, the Oceania-Trident service it operates with Hamburg S'd between the U.S. East Coast and Australia/New Zealand. That service, on which Hapag-Lloyd is a slot buyer, had added a 10th vessel with no change in frequency, according to ComPair Data. ' Eric Johnson