Zim to join FEFC for last hurrah

Zim to join FEFC for last hurrah

Related Stories •   Zim to start Asia/Europe loop with ex-transpacific tonnage

Israeli carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. will join the Far East Freight Conference at the start of next year for the last 10 months or so before the conference is abolished under the change in European competition rules in October.
   Zim’s membership in the FEFC is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected to pass in January, about the same time as the Haifa carrier will start its first Asia/North Europe service using its own tonnage.
   The new East'West Express Service (EWX) will start on Jan. 15 with the departure from Shanghai of the chartered-in 4,900-TEU APL Iris. The loop will eventually deploy eight ships in the 4,250-TEU range including four vessels from the soon to be defunct Asia/U.S. East Coast AUX service and two from its Asia Med Pacific (AMP) service. The port rotation will be Shanghai, Xiamen, Shekou, Port Kelang, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Tilbury, Le Havre and back to Shanghai.
   Zim is already present in the Asia/North Europe trade taking slots onboard China Shipping Container Lines’ AEX1 service.
   Meanwhile, the FEFC said its members carried an extra 18.7 percent of containers in the eastbound trade from the Far East to North Europe and the Mediterranean in the third quarter to reach a total of 2.55 million TEUs. The quarterly eastbound growth was 6.2 percent to 848,000 TEUs.
   After three quarters of 2007, the FEFC carriers’ westbound volume improved 20.2 percent to 7.07 million TEUs while the cumulative eastbound figure of 2.25 million TEUs is up 8 percent year on year.
   The 16 shipping lines of the FEFC are estimated to control roughly two-thirds of the available Asia/Europe and Med vessel capacity. They are: ANL Container Lines, APL, CMA CGM, CSAV Norasia, Egyptian International Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, “K” Line, Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., MISC Berhad, MOL, NYK, OOCL, Safmarine and Yang Ming.