‘THE Alliance’ details service network

Members of the planned ocean carrier alliance – Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, NYK, MOL and “K” Line – said they plan to offer 31 services, utilizing 240 vessels to call over 75 ports.    Members of ‘THE Alliance’ – Ocean carriers Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, NYK, MOL and “K” Line – have provided details of their planned vessel sharing agreement.
   The carriers said they will offer “31 services covering all East West trade lanes with short transit times,” including 16 loops in the transpacific trade.
   Utilizing 240 ships, the services will call over 75 ports in the Far East, North Europe, the Mediterranean, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.
   The news follows last week’s announcement made by OCEAN Alliance members – COSCO Container Lines, CMA CGM, Evergreen Line and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) – releasing details on their proposed network.
   The service network of THE Alliance is expected to cover more than 24 ports in Asia including ten Chinese ports and five Japanese ports with direct calls, as well as 20 ports in the U.S. and Canada, six ports in North Europe, 13 ports in the Mediterranean, six ports in the Middle East and six ports in Central America/the Caribbean.
   THE Alliance will commence operations in April 2017, pending regulatory approval.
   The five carriers have ]filed an alliance agreement with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission covering their trades that will call U.S. ports. The agreement goes into effect April 1, 2017 and will continue until April 1, 2022, though members have the right to withdraw after April 1, 2020 if they provide 12 months written notice. In that document, the members said they will initially share space on 151 containerships with capacities ranging from 3,000 TEUs to 14,500 TEUs, but said that they are authorized to adjust the number of line haul ships upward to 180 vessels with a maximum capacity of 21,000 TEUs each and maximum weekly capacity of 180,000 TEUs. The filing also permits them to adjust capacity downward to as few as 80 vessels and a weekly capacity of 70,000 TEUs. The agreement says, “Allocation of space will generally be based on the principle that the parties basic slot allocation (BSA) will be equivalent to contribution,” though it also says that may be based on a carrier’s provision or allocation on multiple trade lanes whether to the U.S. or non-U.S. trade lanes.
   The filing does not include South Korean carrier Hanjin Shipping. Originally, Hanjin was slated to be part of THE Alliance, but filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of August.
   The other South Korean carrier, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), had originally said it might join THE Alliance, but in July, announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding to join the 2M Alliance of Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC). Nevertheless, there has been continuing speculation that with Hanjin’s insolvency, HMM might take over some of Hanjin’s services and wind up as part of THE Alliance.
   The announcement by THE Alliance comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that three of its members – the Japanese carriers NYK, MOL and “K” Line – plan to form a joint venture with their liner divisions.
   “The product of THE Alliance is a milestone which will significantly improve the service offering for all shippers on the East West trade lanes“, the member carriers said.
   They said their “product” will be characterized by fast transit times, a broad port coverage and deployment of ships that are modern and the most efficient.
   Overall, they said they will offer five services between Asia and North Europe, three services between Asia and the Mediterranean, one dedicated service between Asia and the Far East (though some of the Asia-Europe services also include port calls in the Middle East), 11 transpacific services to the West Coast of North America (including three to the Pacific Northwest and eight to the Pacific Southwest), five transpacific services to the East Coast of North America (with three transiting the Panama Canal and two using the Suez Canal), and six transatlantic strings.
   THE Alliance offered the following port rotations for each string, though in many cases “placeholder” names such as “South East Asia Hub” or “Pacific Northwest” are given instead of the exact name of the port that the services will call at:

Asia and North Europe
     • FE 1: Kobe – Nagoya – Shimizu – Tokyo – South East Asia Hub – Jeddah – Rotterdam – Hamburg – the United Kingdom – Le Havre – South East Asia Hub – Kobe
     • FE 2: Xingang – Dalian – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub – West Med Hub – the United Kingdom – Hamburg – Rotterdam – Le Havre – West Med Hub – Arabian Gulf Hub – South China/Hong Kong – Qingdao – Xingang
     • FE 3: South China/Hong Kong – Xiamen – Kaohsiung – South China/Hong Kong – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – the United Kingdom – East Med Hub – South East Asia Hub – South China/Hong Kong
     • FE 4: Pusan – Ningbo – Shanghai – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – the United Kingdom – South China/Hong Kong – Pusan
     • FE 5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – South East Asia Hub – Colombo – Rotterdam – Hamburg – the United Kingdom – Antwerp – Jeddah – Colombo – South East Asia Hub – Laem Chabang

Asia and the Mediterranean
     • MD 1: Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub – East Med Hub – Barcelona – Valencia – Fos – Genoa – East Med Hub – South East Asia Hub – South China/Hong Kong – Qingdao
     • MD 2: Pusan – Ningbo – Shanghai – Kaohsiung – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub – Jeddah – La Spezia – Genoa – Barcelona – Valencia – South East Asia Hub – South China/Hong Kong – Pusan
     • MD 3: Pusan – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub – Jeddah – East Med Hub – Ashdod – East Med Hub – Istanbul (Ambarli) – Izmir – Mersin – East Med Hub – Jeddah – South East Asia Hub – Kaohsiung – Pusan

Asia and the Middle East
     • AGX: Pusan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub – Arabian Gulf Hub – Dammam – Jubail – Arabian Gulf Hub – South East Asia Hub – Ningbo – Pusan

Trans Pacific – West Coast
     • PN 1: Qingdao – Shanghai – Nagoya – Tokyo – Pacific North-West (US) – Pacific North-West (CA) – Tokyo – Nagoya – Kobe – Qingdao
     • PN 2: South East Asia Hub – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – South China/Hong Kong – Xiamen – Kaohsiung – Pacific North-West (CA/US) – Pacific North-West (CA/US) – Tokyo – Kobe – Kaohsiung – South East Asia Hub
     • PN 3: South China/Hong Kong – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Pacific North-West (CA) – Pacific North-West (U.S.) – Pusan – South China/Hong Kong
     • PS 1: Kobe – Nagoya – Tokyo – Sendai – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Tokyo – Nagoya – Kobe
     • PS 2: Kobe – Nagoya – Shimizu – Tokyo – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Tokyo – Kobe
     • PS 3: South East Asia Hub – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – South China/Hong Kong – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Tokyo – South China/Hong Kong – South East Asia Hub
     • PS 4: South China/Hong Kong – Kaohsiung – Keelung – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Keelung – Kaohsiung – South China/Hong Kong
     • PS 5: Shanghai – Ningbo – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Shanghai
     • PS 6: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Pusan – Qingdao
     • PS 7: Xiamen – South China/Hong Kong – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Xiamen
     • PS 8: Dalian – Xingang – Qingdao – Pusan – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Pusan – Dalian

Trans Pacific – East Coast (via Panama and Suez)
     • EC 1: Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – Tokyo – (Panama Canal) – Caribbean Hub – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Norfolk – Miami (Seasonal) – Caribbean Hub – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Tokyo – Kobe – Ningbo
     • EC 2: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Pusan – (Panama Canal) – New York – Boston – South Atlantic (U.S.) – (Panama Canal) – Pusan – Qingdao
     • EC 3: Kaohsiung – Xiamen – South China/Hong Kong – Shanghai – (Panama Canal) – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Norfolk – (Panama Canal) – Balboa – Pusan – Kaohsiung
     • EC 4: Kaohsiung – South China/Hong Kong – Cai Mep – South East Asia Hub – (Suez Canal) – New York – Norfolk – South Atlantic (U.S.) – (Suez Canal) – South East Asia Hub – Kaohsiung
     • EC 5: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – South East Asia Hub – Colombo – (Suez Canal) – Halifax – New York – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Norfolk – Halifax – (Suez Canal) – Arabian Gulf Hub – South East Asia Hub – Laem Chabang

Trans Atlantic
     • AL 1: Bremerhaven – Antwerp – the United Kingdom – Norfolk – Philadelphia – New York – Halifax – Bremerhaven
     • AL 2: The United Kingdom – Le Havre – Rotterdam – Bremerhaven – New York – South Atlantic (US) – the United Kingdom
     • AL 3: Antwerp – Bremerhaven – the United Kingdom – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Port Everglades – Houston – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Norfolk – Antwerp
     • AL 4: The United Kingdom – Antwerp – Bremerhaven – Le Havre – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – New Orleans – Mobile – the United Kingdom
     • AL 5: The United Kingdom – Rotterdam – Bremerhaven – Antwerp – Le Havre – South Atlantic (U.S.) – Caribbean Hub – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Pacific North-West (U.S.) – Pacific North-West (CA) – Pacific South-West (U.S.) – Balboa – Caribbean Hub – South Atlantic (U.S.) – the United Kingdom
     • AL 6: Livorno – La Spezia – Genoa – Fos – Barcelona – Valencia – West Med Hub – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – South Atlantic (U.S.) – West Med Hub – Valencia – Livorno