News Content

THE Alliance makes changes to east-west services starting April 2018

THE ocean carrier members of THE Alliance - Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, "K" Line, MOL and NYK - are shaking up their east-west network starting in April 2018, adding one additional loop to the existing 32 services, which will now cover 81 ports with more than 250 vessels deployed in major east-west trade lanes.

The service network of THE Alliance, which originally launched in April 2017, is expected to cover more than 19 ports in Asia including seven Chinese and five Japanese ports with direct calls as well as 21 ports in the US and Canada, seven North European and 17 Mediterranean ports, seven ports in the Middle East and Red Sea, three Indian Sub-Continent ports, and seven ports in Central America/Caribbean.

The network entails eight services in the Asia/Europe trade including three services covering the Mediterranean market; 16 joint services operated by THE Alliance members on the Trans Pacific trade; seven loops in the North Atlantic trade covering North European, Mediterranean, US, Canada and Mexico ports; and two loops in Middle East, American Shipper reported.

"After one year of cooperation we are proud to say that our services and the network improved significantly," said member carriers in a statement. "The business is well on track in operational terms and with the delivery of several new big ships we are able to serve our customers even better."

Specifically, the carriers said the services that will change in April 2018 include the following: Asia and North Europe: FE 2 will remove calls to Dalian and Tangier. The new port rotation will be: Xingang - Qingdao - Shanghai - Ningbo - Hong Kong - South China - South East Asia Hub - Southampton - Le Havre - Hamburg - Rotterdam -Jebel Ali - Hong Kong- Xingang; FE 3 will remove a call to Piraeus and add a call to Le Havre. The new port rotation will be: Hong Kong - Xiamen - Kaohsiung - South China- Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Le Havre - London Gateway - South East Asia Hub - Hong Kong; FE 4 will remove calls to Tanger, Shekou and Yantian. The new port rotation will be: Pusan - Ningbo - Shanghai - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Southampton - South China - Shanghai - Pusan; FE 5 will remove a call to London and add a call to Southampton. The new port rotation will be: Laem Chabang - Cai Mep - South East Asia Hub - Colombo - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Southampton - Jeddah - Colombo - South East Asia Hub - Laem Chabang.

Asia and the Mediterranean: MD 1 will remove calls to Yantian, Fos, Genoa and Shekou, while adding calls to Pusan, Shanghai, Tanger and Hong Kong. The new port rotation will be: Qingdao - Pusan - Shanghai - Ningbo - South China - South East Asia Hub - Damietta - Barcelona - Valencia - Tangier - Damietta - South East Asia Hub - Hong Kong - Qingdao; MD 2 will remove calls to Jeddah, Barcelona and Valencia while adding calls to Qingdao, Fos and Piraeus. The new port rotation will be: Pusan - Qingdao - Ningbo - Shanghai - Kaohsiung - South China - South East Asia Hub - Piraeus - Genoa - La Spezia - Fos - Piraeus - South East Asia Hub - Hong Kong - Pusan; MD 3 will remove a call at Piraeus while adding a call at Izmit. The new port rotation will be: Pusan - Shanghai - Ningbo - South China - South East Asia Hub - Jeddah - Ashdod - Istanbul (Ambarli) - Izmit - Izmir/Aliaga - Mersin - (Ashdod) - Jeddah - South East Asia Hub - Kaohsiung - Pusan.

Asia and the Middle East: AGX2 will be the new, second Middle East loop in the THE Alliance network. The port rotation will be: Shanghai - Ningbo - Kaohsiung - Xiamen - South China - South East Asia Hub - Jebel Ali - Hamad - Umm Qasar - Jebel Ali - South East Asia Hub - Kaohsiung - Shanghai.

Transpacific - West Coast: PS 3 will remove calls to Hong Kong and Tokyo and will add calls to Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, South China, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav and Colombo. The new port rotation will be: South East Asia Hub - Laem Chabang - Cai Mep - Los Angeles - Oakland - Pusan - Shanghai - Ningbo - South China - South East Asia Hub - Nhava Sheva - Pipavav - Colombo - South East Asia Hub; PS 4 will remove a call at Da Chan Bay and add a call at Xiamen. The new port rotation will be: Hong Kong - South China - Kaohsiung - Keelung - Los Angeles - Oakland - Keelung - Kaohsiung - Xiamen - Hong Kong; PS 6 will add a call at Tokyo. The new port rotation will be: Qingdao - Ningbo - Shanghai - Pusan - Long Beach - Oakland - Tokyo - Qingdao; PS 7 will remove a call to Xiamen and add a call to Oakland. The new port rotation will be: Hong Kong - South China - Los Angeles - Oakland - Hong Kong; PS 8 will remove calls to Dalian and Oakland while adding calls to Shanghai, the Pacific Northwest and Tacoma. The new port rotation will be: Xingang - Qingdao - Shanghai - Pusan - Pacific North West - Los Angeles - Tacoma - Pusan - Kwangyang - Xingang.

Transpacific - East Coast (via Panama and Suez): EC 2 will add calls to Manzanillo and Charleston. The new port rotation will be: Qingdao - Ningbo - Shanghai - Pusan - (Panama Canal) - Manzanillo - New York - Boston - Wilmington - Savannah - Charleston - Manzanillo - (Panama Canal) - Pusan - Qingdao; EC 3 will drop a call at Charleston and add calls to Manzanillo and Jacksonville. The new port rotation will be: Kaohsiung - Xiamen - Hong Kong - South China - Shanghai - (Panama Canal) - Manzanillo - Savannah - Jacksonville - Norfolk - Manzanillo - (Panama Canal) - Balboa - Pusan - Kaohsiung; EC 4 will drop a call at Jacksonville. The new port rotation will be: Kaohsiung - Hong Kong - South China - Cai Mep - South East Asia Hub - (Suez Canal) - New York - Norfolk - Savannah - Charleston - New York - (Suez Canal) - South East Asia Hub - Kaohsiung; EC 5 will add a call to Jacksonville. The new port rotation will be: Laem Chabang - Cai Mep - South East Asia Hub - Colombo - (Suez Canal) - Halifax - New York - Savannah - Jacksonville - Norfolk - Halifax - (Suez Canal) - Jebel Ali - South East Asia Hub - Laem Chabang.

Transatlantic: AL 1will added a call to Rotterdam, making the new port rotation: Rotterdam - Bremerhaven - Antwerp - London Gateway - Norfolk - Philadelphia - New York - Halifax - Rotterdam; AL 3 will drop a call to Southampton and add a call to London, making the new port rotation: Antwerp - Bremerhaven - London Gateway - Charleston - Port Everglades - Houston - Savannah - Norfolk - Antwerp; AL 4 will also drop a call to Southampton and add a call to London, making the new port rotation: London Gateway - Antwerp - Bremerhaven - Le Havre - Veracruz - Altamira - Houston - New Orleans - London Gateway; AL 5 will add a call to Puerto Quetzal, making the new port rotation: Southampton - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Le Havre - Savannah - Cartagena - Puerto Quetzal - Long Beach - Oakland - Tacoma - Vancouver - Oakland - Long Beach - Balboa - Cartagena - Caucedo - Savannah - Southampton; AL 6 will drop a call to Halifax and add a call to Baltimore. The new port rotation will be: Salerno - Livorno - La Spezia - Genoa - Fos - New York - Baltimore - Norfolk - Savannah - Salerno; AL 7 will drop calls to Mersin, Ashdod, Haifa, Aliaga and Piraeus, making the new port rotation: Barcelona - Valencia - Algeciras - Halifax - New York - Norfolk - Savannah - Valencia - Tarragona.

According to ocean shipping schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, THE Alliance currently operates 32 services in similar tradelanes, with 239 total vessels deployed.

The member carriers also reiterated that, as of April 1, 2018, the three Japanese members of THE Alliance - MOL, NYK, and "K" Line - will combine their container operations into a single entity called Ocean Network Express (ONE). ONE will continue to be a core member of the streamlined THE Alliance partnership along with Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming, the carriers said.