Hanjin Shipping said it will charter slots on a New World Alliance service connecting Southeast Asia to the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal.
The service is dubbed SZX and is operated with eight APL ships of 4,300 to 5,000-TEU capacities, according to ComPair Data. While New World carriers APL, Hyundai and MOL call it SZX, Hanjin will market it as AWZ. Until recently, CMA CGM was also a slot buyer on the service, but left when it launched its own joint Columbus service with Maersk Line.
Hanjin is likely a replacement for CMA CGM, said Francis Phillips of ComPair Data.
Hanjin, a partner in the CKYH Alliance along with COSCO, “K” Line and Yang Ming, said it is buying slots to better access the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East markets. Hopping on the APL service will also enable Hanjin customers to speed shipments from Singapore to New York, with the APL service offering a 21-day transit time while Hanjin’s current best offering is 29 days.
According to ComPair Data, the CKYH Alliance operates no services between Southeast Asia and the U.S. East Coast, and only one connection between Singapore and the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East regions -- Hanjin’s own FEX Asia/Europe loop. Phillips said joining the APL loop "may also help Hanjin build the basis for a future westbound via Suez Southeast Asia/U.S. East Coast connection of its own."
The rotation of the APL service on which Hanjin is taking slots is Singapore, Colombo, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk, Jebel Ali, Port Klang and Singapore.
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