[EN-SEA] CKYH's "K" Line And TNWA's MOL Join Asia-West Coast Loop

SUPPOSED rivals "K" Line, a member of CKYH Alliance and The New World Alliance's MOL, will create two joint loops from Asia to the northern and southern regions of the US west coast from early April, said a "K" Line statement.

"K" Line and MOL will run joint operations to provide a stable and reliable service, the statement said.

From April 7, the PSW-3 service starts with the sailing of the Venice Bridge from Kobe as part of a loop deploying five 3,700-3,850 TEU class ships with two provided by "K" Line and three from MOL.

The rotation will be Kobe (Tue/Wed), Nagoya (Thu/Thu), Shimizu (Fri/Fri), Tokyo (Sat/Sat), Long Beach-Los Angeles (Tue/Sun), Oakland (Tue/Wed), Tokyo (Mon/Mon) and back to Kobe (Tue).

Until April, the PSW-3 service will continue with five 3,400-TEU ships operated by "K" on a rotation of Shanghai, Kobe, Yokkaichi, Nagoya, Tokyo, Long Beach, Oakland, Tokyo, Nagoya and back to Shanghai.

From April 8, with the sailing of the Bremen Bridge from Xiamen, the K-PNW service will deploy six 5,200-TEU ships five of which will be from "K" Line and one from MOL.

They will follow a rotation of Xiamen (Thu/Thu), Hong Kong (Fri/Fri), Shenzhen-Yantian (Sat/Sat), Shanghai (Mon/Tue), Nagoya (Thu/Thu), Tokyo (Fri/Fri), Tacoma (Sun/Wed), Vancouver (Wed/Thu), Tokyo (Mon/Tue), Nagoya (Wed/Thu), Kobe (Fri/Fri), Kaohsiung (Mon/Mon) and back to Xiamen (Thu).

Until April, the current K-PNW service, deploying six 3,400-TEU vessels, all from "K" Line will continue on the following rotation: Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai, Nagoya, Tokyo, Tacoma, Vancouver, Kobe, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kaohsiung and back to Xiamen.

The changes remain subject to regulatory filing and approval as necessary, said the joint statement.

Source : HKSG, 08.03.10.