Taiwanese ocean carrier Evergreen Line is undergoing an extensive reworking of its transpacific service operations.
The Taipei-based operator has already merged its weekly TPS (previously five ships averaging 5,731 TEUs) and CPS (four ships at 5,370 TEUs) services, to create a butterfly string called AUS using nine vessels with an average capacity of 6,021 TEUs.
The vessel Ever Uranus commenced the first eastbound voyage of the AUS when it departed Yantian yesterday. The full rotation is Yantian, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Los Angeles, Oakland, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Oakland, Los Angeles, Kaohsiung and back to Yantian.
The Port of Tacoma, which had been served on the TPS, will now exchange with Oakland on the HTW loop.
Evergreen will also from early next month take space on the Asia/U.S. West Coast Pacific Coast Express (PCE) service of the New World Alliance -- APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and MOL -- and the Asia/U.S. East Coast section of the same group's Atlantic Pacific Express (APX) pendulum.
Evergreen will also provide one vessel on the New World's Japan-America Shuttle (JAS), due to start next month. The extra Japanese coverage will enable Evergreen to drop the ports of Osaka, Nagoya, Shimizu and Tokyo eastbound from its NUE service, replacing them with stops at Ningbo and Qingdao in China.
American Shipper