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 & updated services 

Intra Africa 

COSCO launches the East Africa Mozambique (EMS) Mozambique Coast Link (MCL) starting 18 Sep 2026. The number of ships and average capacity of this service will be 3 x 1,200-1,800 teu. 

• Carrier service name: East Africa Mozambique (EMS) Mozambique Coast Link (MCL) 

• Port rotation: Port Louis - Maputo - Beira - Nacala - Port Louis 

• First sailing: 18 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔  South America East Coast 

Hapag-Lloyd launches the AS3 service starting 13 Sep 2026. The service will cover a weekly connection between Asia and Brazil. 

• Carrier service name: AS3 

• Port rotation: Shanghai - Ningbo - Xiamen - Yantian - Hog Kong - Rio Grande - Itajai - Paranagua - Santos - Rio de Janeiro - Shanghai 

• First sailing: 13 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔ Mediterranean 

Gemini Cooperation has revised the port rotation of Asia-Mediterranean services - AE15. The service added a port call at Jeddah. It deploys twelve vessels with an average vessel capacity of 18,400 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: AE15 

• Port rotation: Qingdao - Kwangyang - Ningbo - Tanjung Pelepas - Jeddah - Port Said - Damietta - Colombo - Singapore - Qingdao 

• First sailing: 03 Aug 2026 

Gemini Cooperation to revise the port rotation of Asia-Mediterranean services - AE19. The service will be routed permanently via the Suez Canal until further notice and adds eastbound and westbound calls at Jeddah. The average vessel capacity will be 15,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: AE19 

• Port rotation: Tangier - Port Said - Jeddah - Singapore - Tianjin Xingang - Qingdao - Busan - Ningbo - Shanghai - Tanjung Pelepas - Jeddah - Port Said - Tangier 

• First sailing: 03 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔ Middle East 

COSCO/OOCL will launch a new Asia-Red Sea service - RS4. The new service will connect Asia to the Red Sea. It will deploy seven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 5,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: RS4 

• Port rotation: Shanghai - Ningbo - Xiamen - Nansha - Jeddah - Shanghai 

• First sailing: 09 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔ North America 

Ocean Alliance has revised the port rotation of Transpacific services - CPNW. The service drops Qingdao, Ningbo and Kwangyang, adds Kaohsiung and Yantian, and changes the order of the Shanghai port call. It deploys seven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 8,600 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: CPNW 

• Port rotation: Seattle - Kaohsiung - Yantian - Shanghai - Busan - Vancouver - Seattle 

• First sailing: 19 Aug 2026 

Ocean Alliance to revise the port rotation of Transpacific services - MTE. The service will drop Haiphong and add Port Klang. It will deploy nine vessels with an average vessel capacity of 10,200 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: MTE 

• Port rotation: Kaohsiung - Port Klang - Vung Tau - Shanghai - Los Angeles - Oakland - Shekou - Kaohsiung 

• First sailing: 23 Aug 2026 

Maersk to suspend seasonal Transpacific service - TPX. The seasonal TPX service will be suspended based on Maersk's current service schedules. It currently deploys six vessels with an average vessel capacity of 4,500 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: TPX 

• Port rotation: Vung Tau - Busan - Long Beach - Vung Tau 

• Last sailing: 01 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔ North America West Coast 

MSC will revise the port rotation of Transpacific services - Pearl. The service will drop the Xiamen call and add Haiphong and Oakland. It will deploy seven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 7,900 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: Pearl 

• Port rotation: Yantian - Long Beach - Oakland - Haiphong - Yantian 

• First sailing: 09 Sep 2026 

MSC revised the port rotation of Transpacific services - Sentosa. The service added Xiamen and dropped Haiphong and Oakland. The average vessel capacity is 16,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: Sentosa 

• Port rotation: Singapore - Port Klang - Laem Chabang - Vung Tau - Yantian - Xiamen - Long Beach - Singapore 

• First sailing: 18 Aug 2026 

Asia ↔ North America ↔ Indian Subcontinent 

Ocean Alliance to revise the port rotation of Transpacific services - PEARLAS1. The service will add a port call at Haiphong. It will deploy fourteen vessels with an average vessel capacity of 11,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: PEARLAS1 

• Port rotation: Laem Chabang - Haiphong - Yantian - Los Angeles - Kwangyang - Qingdao - Shanghai - Ningbo - Shekou - Singapore - Nhava Sheva - Mundra - Karachi - Port Klang - Laem Chabang 

• First sailing: 09 Sep 2026 

Asia ↔ Oceania 

Maersk/ONE revised the port rotation of Asia-Oceania service - Dragon. The service drops the port call at Shanghai. It deploys seven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 6,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: Dragon 

• Port rotation: Ningbo - Hong Kong - Yantian - Sydney - Melbourne - Brisbane - Qingdao - Ningbo 

• First sailing: 04 Aug 2026 

Indian Subcontinent ↔ East Africa 

COSCO/HMM/Interasia Lines/PIL to launch a new ISC-East Africa service - GIA. The new service connects the Indian Subcontinent with East Africa. It will deploy five vessels with an average vessel capacity of 3,500 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: GIA 

• Port rotation: Nhava Sheva - Mundra - Dar Es Salaam - Mombasa - Nhava Sheva 

• First sailing: 24 Sep 2026 

Intra-Europe 

Maersk to revise the port rotation of Intra-Europe service - SLB. The service replaces the temporarily added Haifa call with the temporarily restored Ashdod call. It will deploy five vessels with an average vessel capacity of 3,500 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: SLB 

• Port rotation: Tilbury - Rotterdam - Bremerhaven - Antwerp - Ashdod - Alexandria - Damietta - Port Said - Tilbury 

• First sailing: 31 Aug 2026 

Middle East/Indian Subcontinent ↔ Africa 

COSCO launches the Gulf India East Africa (GIA) India-East Africa (IEX) Imara Express (IMX) starting 23 Sep 2026. The number of ships and average capacity of this service will be 5 x 2,400-3,000 teu. 

• Carrier service name: Gulf India East Africa (GIA) India-East Africa (IEX) Imara Express (IMX) 

• Port rotation: Nhava Sheva - Mundra - Dar Es Salaam - Mombasa - Nhava Sheva 

• First sailing: 23 Sep 2026 

North Europe ↔ North America 

MSC has revised the port rotation of the Transatlantic service - Mexico Gulf Express. The service added port calls at Savannah, Charleston and New York. The average vessel capacity is 7,000 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: Mexico Gulf Express 

• Port rotation: Freeport - Savannah - Charleston - New York - Felixstowe - Antwerp - Rotterdam - Bremerhaven - Freeport - Veracruz - Altamira - Houston - New Orleans - Mobile - Freeport 

• First sailing: 16 Aug 2026 

Intra - Middle America

Maersk to launch a new Mexico-Panama service - West Coast Shuttle. The new service will connect Mexico to Panama and Ecuador. It will deploy three vessels with an average vessel capacity of 2,600 TEU. 

• Carrier service name: West Coast Shuttle 

• Port rotation: Posorja - Balboa - Manzanillo (Mexico) - Lazaro Cardenas - Balboa - Posorja 

• First sailing: 20 Sep 2026 

For more point-to-point service options, including transit times across major ocean carriers, refer to seaexplorer.