Carriers 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 & updated services
Asia <-> Indian Subcontinent
Evergreen is launching a new China-India service jointly with PIL.
- Carrier service name: CIX6
- Port rotation: Shanghai - Ningbo - Nansha - Singapore - Chennai - Visakhapatnam - Port Klang - Singapore - Shanghai
- First sailing: Ever Dainty due to depart from Shanghai on 30 May
Asia <-> Mediterranean/Black Sea
In May, Ocean Alliance revised the port rotation of its service between Asia and the North Mediterranean by dropping the port call at Genoa.
- Carrier service name: MEX (CMA CGM), MEX1 (Evergreen), WM2 (OOCL), AEM2 (COSCO)
- Port rotation: Singapore - Valencia - Barcelona - Fos Sur Mer - Marsaxlokk - Port Klang - Qingdao - Busan - Shanghai - Ningbo - Xiamen - Nansha - Shekou - Singapore
- Vessel deployment: 15 vessels with an average capacity of 15,000 TEU
- First sailing: CMA CGM Cape Cod departed Singapore on 2 May
Asia <-> North America
The Ocean Alliance is revising the port rotation of the HTW and AWE4 services, connecting the East and West Coasts of the US with Asia.
- Port rotation: Yantian - Los Angeles - Oakland - Kaohsiung - Port Klang - Cai Mep - Taipei - Kaohsiung - Yantian.
- Vessel deployment: 8 vessels with an average capacity of 13,000 TEU
- First sailing: Ever Far departed Yantian on 13 May
- Port rotation: Charleston - Laem Chabang - Cai Mep - Hong Kong - Xiamen - Shanghai - New York - Savannah - Charleston
- Vessel deployment: 13 vessels with an average capacity of 13,500 TEU
- First sailing: COSCO Excellence departed Charleston on 7 April
Asia <-> North Europe
The Ocean Alliance introduced several changes to the FAL3 and BEX2 services.
- Changes: Replacing the port call at Singapore with Port Klang from Le Havre port
- Port rotation: Le Havre - Port Klang - Qingdao - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Singapore - Dunkirk - Rotterdam - Southampton - Antwerp - Le Havre
- First sailing: CMA CGM Trocadero departed from Le Havre on 28 April
- Changes: Adding new ports in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
- Port rotation: Singapore - Alexandria - Beirut - Tripoli - Koper - Trieste - Rijeka - Alexandria - Jeddah - Port Klang - Shekou - Shanghai - Ningbo - Busan - Shekou - Singapore
- First sailing: CMA CGM Rodolphe departed from Singapore on 19 April
In addition, MSC is revising the port rotation on its Swan service
- Carrier service name: Swan
- Port rotation: Ningbo - Shanghai - Yantian - Tanjung Pelepas - Felixstowe - Antwerp - Hamburg - Gdansk - Gdynia - Klaipeda - Bremerhaven - Antwerp - Singapore - Ningbo
- First sailing: MSC Daria due to arrive Ningbo on 3 June
Indian Sub-Continent <-> Middle East
MAERSK and CMA CGM will revise the port rotation of their India to/from Middle East service by removing calls at Port Elizabeth and Pointe des Galets.
- Port rotation: Durban - Jebel Ali - Mundra - Nhava Sheva - Durban
- Vessel deployment: 7 vessels with an average capacity of 2,500 TEU
- First sailing: CMA CGM Valparaiso departed Durban on 22 May
CMA CGM is also launching a new VGI service that connects Asia, India, and the Middle East.
- Loop 1 : Laem Chabang - Singapore - Port Klang - Nhava Sheva - Jebel Ali - Dammam - Nhava Sheva - Port Klang - Vung Tau
- Loop 2: Vung Tau - Jakarta - Port Klang - Mundra - Jebel Ali - Dammam - Mundra - Port Klang - Laem Chabang
First sailings
- Loop 1: MV Zhong Gu Shen Yang with ETA Laem Chabang on 16 May
- Loop 2: MV Esl Kabir with ETA Vung Tau on 19 May
Intra-Med
In May, CMA CGM revised the port rotation of its ALGB service by replacing the call at Marsalokk with Valencia.
- Carrier service name: ALGB
- Port rotation: Bejaia - Valencia - Marseille - Bejaia
- First sailing: Yigitcan A departed Bejaia on 12 May
Intra-South and Central America
In June, CMA CGM will launch new services connecting several South and Central American ports.
- Carrier service name: ATLAS
- Port rotation: Santos - Buenos Aires - Mar del Plata - Imbituba - Santos.
- Vessel deployment: one vessel with a capacity of 1,700 TEU
- First sailing: CMA CGM Platon is due to depart from Santos on 5 June
- Carrier service name: MCX
- Port rotation: Buenaventura - Balboa - Puerto Caldera - Acajutla - Buenaventura
- First sailing: MV Theodor due to depart on 16 June
MSC will also launch a service on this trade in June, operated by CMA CGM.
- Carrier service name: MCX
- Port rotation: Salaverry - Rodman - Buenaventura - Paita - Salaverry
- First sailing: MSC Montserrat departing from Salaverry on 6 June
North America <-> South America
MSC & MAERSK will temporarily revise the port rotation of their service between North and South America by dropping the call at Mobile and changing the port calls at Veracruz Altamira from weekly to fortnightly.
- Carrier service name: UCLA (Maersk), GULF TO SAEC STRING 1 (MSC)
- Port rotation: Houston - Cristobal - Cartagena (Colombia) - Santos - Itapoa - Paranagua - Santos - Rio de Janeiro - Cartagena (Colombia) - Cristobal - Veracruz (fortnightly) - Altamira (fortnightly) - Houston
- Vessel deployment: 8 vessels with an average capacity of 6,000 TEU
- First sailing: GSL Arcadia departed Houston on 21 May
North Europe <-> South America
As of the end of May, MAERSK and CMA CGM will revise the port rotation of the North Europe - South America service by dropping the port call at Bremerhaven.
- Port rotation: London Gateway - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Tangier - Santos - Paranagua - Buenos Aires - Montevideo - Rio Grande - Paranagua - Santos - Tangier - London Gateway
- Vessel deployment: 9 vessels with an average capacity of 9,900 TEU
- First sailing: Cap San Tainaro departing London Gateway on 31 May
Haiti
Hapag-Lloyd joined CMA CGM in reopening booking to Haiti. According to the update, the carrier started accepting new bookings to Port-au-Prince as of 21 May.
Services to Baltimore
Maersk and MSC announced reopening bookings for direct imports and exports to/from Baltimore.
Maersk emphasised that booking is contingent on space availability.
"Our ability to call Baltimore will ultimately rely on the refloating timeline, the Captain of the Port officially opening the port, and/or the fourth alternative channel that was previously closed," added Maersk.
The following Maersk services are open for booking:
- AGAS
MSC advised that they would begin calls in Baltimore on the following services:
Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM report rebound in Q1-2024 volumes
Shipping group CMA CGM benefited in the first quarter from a rebound in consumer goods demand and vessel diversions around Africa. The French carrier, the world's third-largest container line, reported a first-quarter net profit of USD 785 million, recovering from a USD 90 million loss in the final quarter of 2023.
Revenue stood at USD 11.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024, driven mainly by the Group's maritime shipping business. However, EBITDA totalled USD 2.4 billion, 30.3% lower than in the first quarter of 2023.
"Against a backdrop of industry normalisation, our Group has demonstrated its agility and resilience in adapting to new market conditions. Our shipping division turned in a solid performance, buoyed by restocking in China and the United States," said Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group.
Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd concluded the first quarter of 2024 with a Group EBITDA of USD 942 million. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the Group EBIT decreased to USD 396 million and the Group profit to USD 325 million.
Furthermore, the carrier reported an increase in transport volumes for their shipping segment by 6.8% to 3 million TEU (Q1 2023: 2.8 million TEU).
"Even though our results are significantly below the exceptionally strong figures from the previous year owing to the normalisation of supply chains, we are pleased to have got the new year off to a good start," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG.
