[130316.EN.SEA] CKYHE Shuffles Asia-Europe, Med Loops, Scraps 1 As Demand, Rates Plunge

THE CKYHE alliance, combining Cosco, "K" Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin and Evergreen, is scrapping one weekly Asia-Europe string and revamping five others to counter overcapacity and falling rates.

CKYHE members lines said the measure would "optimise efficiency and enhance service quality", and would take effect from the end of this month, reported IHS Media.

Following service shuffle, the CKYHE Alliance will provide five Asia-North Europe services (NE2, NE3, NE5/CEM, NE6, NE7) and four Asia-Mediterranean services (MD1, MD2, HPM/MD3, FEM), adjusting port coverage across Asia, North Europe, and the east and west Mediterranean.

As part of the service restructuring, the China-Europe Shuttle (CES) service will be shelved, decommissioning ten 8,500-TEU vessels. The CES service used to call at Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Colombo, Taipei, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Shekou and Colombo.

As a result, 6,000 TEU per week will be removed from the route, but it will be partially compensated by the phasing in of new buildings on another Asia-Europe loop.

Evergreen will provide tonnage on the NE7 service to compensate for the CES closure, contributing five newbuildings of 14,354 TEU, chartered from Costamare, to run alongside five of Yang Ming's 14,080-TEUers. The Evergreen newbuildings will replace five of Cosco's 13,092-TEU vessels on this loop.

On the flip side, the leading CKYHE ocean liners have added new capacity to their Mediterranean trades, said Alphaliner.

The revised CKYHE strings are as follows: the NE2 operated by ten 14,000-TEU vessels, calling at Hong Kong, Nansha, Kaohsiung, Shenzhen-Yantian, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Piraeus, Singapore and back to Hong Kong.

The NE3 (eleven 13,000-TEU vessels) rotate through Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Singapore, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Shanghai and Xingang.

NE5/CEM (ten 14,000-TEU ships) rotates through Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Ningbo, Taipei, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas and back to Kaohsiung.

NE6 (nine 13,000-TEU vessels): Busan, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Algeciras, Singapore, Shenzhen-Yantian and back to Busan.

NE7 (ten 14,000-TEU ships) rotates through Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shekou, Colombo, Piraeus, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Piraeus, Xiamen.

The MD1 pendulum service (fifteen 10,000-TEU) vessels to call at the ports of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Nansha, Shenzhen-Yantian, Singapore, Port Said (west), Ashdod, Piraeus, Genoa, Piraeus, Port Said (west), Port Kelang, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Long Beach, Seattle and back to Qingdao.

The MD2 with ten 8,500/14,000 TEUers rotate through Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Kaohsiung, Shenzhen-Yantian, Singapore, Piraeus, Genoa, Barcelona, Marseilles-Fos, Piraeus, Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Xiamen.

HPM/MD3 pendulum service (15 x 10,000-TEU box ships) rotates through Busan, Kwanyang, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Singapore, Jeddah, Port Said (West), Malta, La Spezia, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Malta, Jeddah, Singapore, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai, Kwanyang, Busan, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and back to Busan.

And the FEM with eight 5,500/7,500 TEUers on a port rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Taipei, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shenzhen-Shekou, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Ashdod, Alexandra, Piraeus, Jeddah, Tanjung Pelepas, Shekou, Kaohsiung and back to Qingdao.

Source : HKSG.