MOL, 'K' Line stop LA calls, docks at Long Beach on JAS/PSW-3 loop

JAPANESE shipping giants, MOL and "K" Line have changed their US ports call on their joint Japan-US West Coast (JAS/PSW-3) service since mid-November so ships no longer put into Los Angeles but head for Long Beach instead.

The revised port rotation for the JAS/PSW-3 is Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, Shimizu, Tokyo, Long Beach, Oakland, returning to Tokyo.

The service is operated using five 4,600- to 5,000-TEU vessels, with MOL providing three ships and "K" Line two.

A report by Paris-based Alphaliner said the service is expected to call at the Port of Long Beach until April 2013 and then revert back to calling at the neighbouring Los Angeles.

It said that the "move appears to be part of an arrangement between the two carriers to call alternate at the terminals operated by each carrier every six months".

MOL operates Trapac Berth 136 at Los Angeles and "K" Line runs the International Transportation Service (ITS) terminal in Long Beach.