by Priya Radünzel, SeaNewsEditor

Container shipping companies adjust their services in response to market dynamics and operational hurdles. Stay informed of upcoming changes with Kuehne+Nagel's carrier service update, published bi-weekly on Sea News and seaexplorer.

New & revised services

Asia↔North America

In late September, MSC will revise the port rotation of its Liberty service by adding port calls at Ningbo and Caucedo.

• Carrier service name: Liberty
• Port rotation: Singapore - Shanghai - Ningbo - Busan - Caucedo - Miami - Savannah - Charleston – Baltimore – New York – Singapore
• First sailing: MSC New Jersey III, ETD Ningbo, 22 September

Asia↔South and Central America

MSC will adjust the rotations of its Santana and Carioca services, connecting Asia, South America's East Coast, and the Caribbean starting mid-September.

• Carrier service name: Santana
• Port rotation: Yantian - Ningbo - Shanghai - Qingdao - Busan - Cristobal - Suape - Salvador - Singapore - Yantian
• First sailing: MSC Douala VIII, ETD Yantian 14 September

• Carrier service name: Carioca
• Port rotation: Qingdao - Busan - Ningbo - Shanghai - Shekou - Singapore - Colombo - Rio de Janeiro - Santos - Paranagua - Imbituba - Itajai - Santos - Itaguai - Colombo - Singapore - Qingdao
• First sailing: MSC Siya B, ETD Qingdao 16 September

Asia↔North Europe

On 5 September, MSC revised the port rotation of the pendulum service between Asia, North Europe and North America by adding two port calls at London Gateway.

• Carrier service name: Swan-Sentosa
• Port rotation: Qingdao – Ningbo – Shanghai – Yantian – Tanjung Pelepas – London Gateway – Felixstowe – Zeebrugge – Antwerp – Hamburg – Gdansk – Gdynia – Klaipeda – Bremerhaven – Antwerp – London Gateway – Colombo – Singapore – Laem Chabang – Vung Tau – Busan – Long Beach – Oakland – Busan – Qingdao
• First sailing: MSC Bettina, ATD Qingdao, 5 September

Intra South and Central America

As of 1 September, CMA CGM revised the port rotation of the MAOSHTTL service by adding port stops at Fortaleza and Pointe-a-Pitre.

• Carrier service name: Maoshttl
• Port rotation: Manzanillo (Panama) - Manaus - Vila do Conde - Fortaleza - Pointe-a-Pitre - Cartagena (Colombia) – Kingston – Manzanillo (Panama)
• First sailing: Cape Quest, ATD Manzanillo, 1 September

North America↔North Europe

Hapag-Lloyd will temporarily suspend Baltimore calls on its A-Service between North America and North Europe until the start of its Gemini service in February 2025.

• Carrier service name: ATA
• Revised port rotation: New York - Norfolk - Halifax - Liverpool - Hamburg - Antwerp - Liverpool - Halifax - New York
• Last sailing westbound: Atlantic Sky ATK37, ETA Hamburg 29 September, Antwerp 2 October, Liverpool 5 October.
• Last sailing eastbound: Atlantic Sun ASU40, ETA New York 25 September, Baltimore 28 September, Norfolk 30 September

Other Carrier News

In recent days, several carriers have announced changes to their alliances and schedule offerings starting in February 2025.

This follows Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd's announcement to join forces next year as the Gemini Cooperation, leaving their respective agreements with MSC and THE Alliance members.

MSC reveals standalone East-West network starting February 2024

After significantly expanding its fleet, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has unveiled its new East-West trade network, set to commence in February 2025.

MSC describes the new network as a "standalone" network for East-West trades, emphasizing that it can offer weekly services via either the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope, with over 1,800 direct port pairs for each.

According to the announcement, MSC’s future network will include 34 loops across five key trades, providing extensive coverage and flexible routing options. The loops include:

• 7 loops for Asia-North Europe
• 6 loops for Asia-Mediterranean
• 4 loops for Asia-North America West Coast
• 6 loops for Asia-North America East Coast
• 11 loops for the Transatlantic Network

Read more

ONE, HMM, and Yang Ming to form new alliance, MSC to join on a slot exchange basis

Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM and Yang Ming have announced a new cooperation agreement under the new alliance, Premier Alliance.

The Premier Alliance will be effective for five years from February 2025. after Hapag-Lloyd's exit from THE Alliance.

The tripartite alliance will offer mainline services across the major East - West tradelines: Asia - North America West Coast, Asia - North America East Coast, Asia - Mediterranean, Asia - North Europe, and Asia - Middle East.

In a separate announcement, MSC - which is set to exit its 2M alliance with Maersk – revealed that it will collaborate with the Premier Alliance on the Asia-Europe trade route. Read more

Zim announces cooperation with MSC on Asia-USEC coverage

According to an announcement by ZIm on 9 September, MSC and Zim have signed a new three-year agreement to provide six weekly sailings between Asia and the US East Coast from February 2025. The deal includes slot swap and vessel-sharing agreements.

Linerlytica reports that the total number of weekly sailings to the USEC will drop below the current 8 services provided by the 2 carriers under the 2M/Zim arrangement, which will end in January.

The six new services for 2025 are as follows:

• America (MSC) / ZIM Seven Stars (Z7S): Singapore, Laem Chabang, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Singapore

• Emerald (MSC) / ZIM Xpress Baltimore (ZXB): Singapore, Cai Mep, Haiphong, Yantian, Cartagena, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, New York, Baltimore, Singapore

• Empire (MSC) / ZIM North Star (ZNS): Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Busan, New York, Norfolk, Baltimore, Busan

• Amberjack (MSC) / ZIM Container Service Pacific (ZCP): Nansha, Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Manzanillo, Kingston, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, Kingston, Nansha

• Lone Star (MSC) / ZIM Gulf Central China Xpress (ZGC): Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan Mobile, Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Freeport, Rodman, Ningbo

• Pelican (MSC) / ZIM South Lotus (ZSL): Cai Mep, Xiamen, Yantian, Busan, Lazaro Cardenas, Panama Canal, Houston, Mobile, Tampa, Miami, Suez Canal, Cai Mep

In addition, ZIM will continue its existing agreement with MSC to the Pacific Northwest (PNW), under ZNP service:

• Chinook (MSC) /ZIM North Pacific (ZNP): Yantian – Shanghai – Qingdao – Pusan – Vancouver –Yantian

For more point-to-point service options, refer to seaexplorer.