[200815.EN.SEA] Giant 2M Alliance Slims Asia-Europe Services In Face Of Weak Peak

2M PARTNERS, Maersk and MSC, have announced a slimming of their Far East-Med-Europe loops from mid-September, reports Alphaliner.

Rotations of six Far East-North Europe loops will be changed, involving mainly port swaps on the European legs of the loops, while the Asian legs will suffer minor changes.

Of note, Maersk and MSC continue to advertise the AE-9/Condor service as one of the six FE-North Europe loops within the 2M network despite an earlier announcement that the loop would be suspended from September 14.

According to a more recent statement, the service is to be operated as a "seasonal service subject to demand on the Asia-North Europe trade? although it is currently unclear how many sailings will actually be mounted, said Alphaliner.

The new Far East-North Europe service patterns will change on the AE-1/ or Shogun rotation to Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, Felixstowe (Goteborg & Wilhelmshaven calls shifted to AE-2/Swan), deploying eleven 13,000 and 15,500 TEUers.

On the AE-2 or Swan will change to Southampton, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Goteburg, Aarhus, Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Tangier, Singapore, Shanghai, Busan, Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Tangier, Southampton (Goteborg & Wilhelmshaven calls added from AE-1/Shogun. Southampton call added from AE-9/ Condor. Aarhus call added from AE-10/Silk. Hamburg & Hong Kong dropped. King Abdullah eastbound call shifted to AE-12/Phoenix) deploying twelve 15,500- and 19,200-TEUers.

AE-5 or Albatross will change to Le Havre, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Tangier, Algeciras, Tanjung Pelepas, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai, Dalian, Busan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Le Havre (Le Havre call added from AE-6/Lion, Wilhelmshaven call shifted to AE-6/Lion) deploying eleven 15,500- and 19,200 TEUers.

AE-6 or Lion will change to Antwerp, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe, Le Havre, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Singapore, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Xiamen, (USWC), Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Guangzhou-Nansha, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Sines, Antwerp (Le Havre westbound call shifted to AE-5/Albatross replaced by Antwerp, with Bremerhaven calls dropped, and Wilhelmshaven added), deploying seventeen 13,000-14,000 TEUers.

AE-9 or Condor will now be a seasonal loop rotating through Felixstowe, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Tangier, Colombo, Port Kelang, Tanjung Pelepas, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, and Felixstowe (Southampton call shifted to AE-2/Swan, Barcelona, Tangier & Le Havre westbound calls dropped and the European rotation revamped as seasonal loop TBA.

AE-10 or Silk service will now be changed to Felixstowe, Bremerhaven, Gdansk, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Singapore, Shenzhen-Yantian, Busan, Kwangyang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Felixstowe (Aarhus call shifted to AE-2/Swan, Hong Kong eastbound call dropped) deploying eleven 18,300 TEUers

The 2M's five dedicated Far East-Med loops will remain mostly unchanged except for the addition of two new Med direct calls at Tekirdag (on the 'AE-15/Tiger' loop) and at Haifa (on the 'AE-12/Phoenix' loop). Tekirdag (aka Asyaport) is a new large-scale terminal located on the European side of the Marmara Sea, about 100 kilometre west of Istanbul-Ambarli's container terminals.

The revised FE-Mediterranean service patterns are as follows: The westbound calls at Barcelona and Tangier on the AE-9/Condor service, served enroute to North Europe, will also be dropped in the new seasonal service configuration, with no new replacements on existing Asia-Med services.

According to previous announcements made by Maersk and MSC on June 11, the capacity of the AE-9 or Condor service was to be cut from 9,500 TEU to 6,500 TEU through a replacement of the 9,500-TEU class ships currently plying the service with 6,500-TEU units, while the Mediterranean calls were expected to be removed.

But bigger ships of up to 13,000 TEU were instead introduced in the weeks following this announcement.The AE-9/Condor currently covers Southampton, Le Havre, Antwerp, Felixstowe, Tangier, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Tanjung Pelepas, Barcelona, Tangier and Southampton.

Source : HKSG.