"K" Line will drop the Europe/Asia leg of its NOWCO-A service, a 13-ship string that operates in pendulum between Europe, Asia and the U.S. West Coast.
The NOWCO-A will be transformed into a five-vessel transpacific service, but a call in the Port of Portland, Ore., will be dropped.
The change is due to the slowdown in the world economy and is part of a comprehensive restructuring of the company's services, said Peter Bennett, vice president of West Coast operations for the Japanese carrier.
The ships will continue to call Tacoma and Vancouver, but the decision to drop the call in Portland was a reversal in fortune for the port, which had hailed "K" Line's decision to begin calling there just last summer after a nearly four-year absence.
"This has nothing to do with Portland, it is all about the global economy and looking for ways to cut costs," Bennett explained.
He said "K" Line would continue to serve Portland through another string, which it designates NOWCO 1, which is operated by Hanjin, its partner in the CKYH alliance along with COSCO and Yang Ming.
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