Gemini Cooperation partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd on Friday announced a revamp of some Asia-Europe and Mediterranean alliance services, with extra port calls and larger ships, mainly beginning in April.
Five services are covered by the adjustments, which are being made to give “stronger market coverage and faster products on key Asia-North Europe and Mediterranean trades,” Hapag-Lloyd said in an advisory.
The most significant change on Asia-Europe services has been made on the AE3/NE3 loop, which will see the introduction of a Baltic rotation with calls at Aarhus (Denmark) and Gothenburg (Sweden), significantly enhancing market coverage in that region.
Southampton will become the final European outbound call to Asia, strengthening UK export flows, while Spain’s Algeciras will be dropped from the rotation, the carriers said.
In Asia, the service will call at Shenzhen’s Yantian port, “improving optionality for customers favoring Pearl River Delta connectivity,” Hapag-Lloyd said.
While the service will continue to start from Shanghai, the call at Ningbo has been relinquished.
The new rotation is: Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), London Gateway, Aarhus, Gothenburg, Rotterdam, Southampton, and Singapore.
The Gemini partners confirmed that Antwerp would be added to the AE1/NE2 service, but the loop would no longer call at APM Terminals TC1 facility in Tangier. The call at Tanger Alliance TC3 terminal will continue.
The Antwerp call, initially announced by the carriers in an advisory earlier this month, will expand the “hinterland reach and improving access to key Benelux and European cargo flows,” Hapag-Lloyd said Friday.
The first westbound sailing will be made by the 23,664-TEU Hamburg Express that will depart Shanghai on March 6 and call Antwerp on April 21. The revised rotation is: Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, London Gateway, Tangier (TC3), and Singapore.
Hapag-Lloyd said the NE4/AE4 loop will revert to its previous rotation without the Baltic loop, which is now covered by the NE3. “This creates one of the fastest, direct Ningbo-Germany connections in the market, responding to strong customer demand,” the carrier said.
Consequently, Maersk said calls will be added at Ningbo and Algeciras, but Yantian will be dropped.
The full loop comprises Qingdao, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, London Gateway, Bremerhaven and Hamburg in Germany, Rotterdam, Algeciras, and Tanjung Pelepas.
Details please refer to the JOC news.
Source: JOC