Wan Hai Lines is planning to expand its trans-Pacific network after agreeing to a slot exchange deal with Ocean Network Express (ONE) on the latter’s Pacific South 6 service linking China with Long Beach and Oakland, the Taiwanese carrier said. The slot exchange will begin in February.
The launch date coincides with the start of services by the Premier Alliance formed by ONE, HMM and Yang Ming Marine Transport to replace THE Alliance following the departure of Hapag-Lloyd to join Maersk in the Gemini Cooperation.
While the launch of the Premier Alliance is now in abeyance after the US Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC’s) announcement Friday that it will stop the partnership from going ahead while it seeks further information to assess the competitive impact, the three carriers can continue their THE Alliance group. The FMC’s agreement with THE Alliance does not expire until April 1, 2030, FMC documents show.
The port rotation given by Wan Hai reflects ONE’s existing PS6 service with calls at Shanghai-Ningbo-Long Beach-Oakland-Shanghai-Ningbo. Wan Hai said the PS6 service will “provide a direct connection from Asia to the US West Coast,” with an express 16- to 18-day transit from Shanghai to Southern California.
It will augment Wan Hai’s two existing services — its trans-Pacific West Coast AP1 service and its around-the-world US East Coast-Asia-America 7 service.
Due to the new PS6 loop, Wan Hai said it will amend the rotation of its AP1 service by dropping Shanghai and Ningbo beginning in February to improve transit times for customers in Vietnam, Taiwan and southern China. The new rotation will be Haiphong-Cai Mep (Vietnam)-Shekou-Xiamen-Taipei-Los Angeles-Oakland-Shekou-Haiphong.
Both the PS6 slot exchange and AP1 service changes are part of Wan Hai’s 2025 trans-Pacific service improvements.
Details please refer to the JOC news.
Source:
Wallis, K. (2024a, December 9). Wan Hai to expand US Trans-Pacific Services with one slot charter deal. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/wan-hai-to-expand-us-trans-pacific-services-with-one-slot-charter-deal-5878644