Five carriers that operate three joint services between Asia, Mexico and the West Coast of South America plan to suspend one of those services during the slack winter season.
Hamburg Sud and CCNI, which partner with China Shipping, Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine, said they agreed to cut the number of services back to two starting in mid-November.
Their announcement follows the suspension last month of the Grand Alliance’s Japan-China Express service to the U.S. West Coast. Given the overcapacity that has depressed freight rates, carriers are expected to announce more suspensions for the slack season.
Sling 1 of the two new services announced Monday will deploy 11 vessels with capacities of 5,500 20-foot equivalent units, of which Hamburg Sud will provide 10 and CCNI one.
The port rotation in Sling 1 will be: Keelung, Hong Kong, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Buenaventura, Callao, Iquique, Puerto Angamos, Valparaiso and back to Keelung. It will start on Nov. 17 with the arrival of the Monte Aconcagua in Hong Kong.
Sling 2 will consist of 10 ships with capacities between 3,100 and 4,500 TEUs. Of these, CCNI, China Shipping and Hanjin will each deploy three vessels and Hyundai one.
The port rotation of Sling 2 will be: Ningbo, Shanghai, Shekou, Hong Kong, Pusan, Manzanillo, Buenaventura, Guayaquil, Puerto Angamos, Valparaiso, San Vicente, Manzanillo, Pusan and back to Shanghai. It will kick off on Nov. 20 with the arrival of the Hanjin Santos in Shanghai.
The Journal of Commerce Online