Danish company Maersk Line is axing a fourth transpacific service in as many months, citing an inability to raise freight rates enough to cover costs between Asia and the US.
The TP-12 loop will go the same way as the TP-2, TP-10 and TP-14, which Maersk announced it would close in December and January.
Up to eight of 12 panamax ships varying in size from 4,000 to 5,000 TEUs will be freed because of the closure.
The Danish giant appears to have accepted that the liner industry will fail to lift rates sufficiently to the US West Coast for a third year running and that there is little point in making inevitable losses as a result.
Maersk said it would seek transpacific rate rises of US$300 per FEU to US West Coast ports and $500 to East Coast destinations last December, when it axed the first two of the four routes. Presumably, it did not get the increases it wanted.
However, the hard-line approach – possibly the first time a major carrier has really made good on threats to slash back capacity on a main route if it cannot cover costs – may help other lines to push through some freight-rate improvements if shippers perceive a likely shortage of space this year.
Maersk will axe the transpacific element of the TP-12 pendulum service and its connection to the US East Coast by May, although it will retain the linked transatlantic loop, the TA-3, as a pure Europe-US route.
Transpacific port calls from the TP-12 will be integrated into the TP-3, TP-7, TP-8 and AC-1 services and a slot-charter deal with Taiwan’s Evergreen will continue coverage of the Japanese ports of Kobe, Osaka and Shimizu to the southern area of the US West Coast. Maersk still operates a total of nine transpacific loops to the US.
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