Our bi-weekly carrier update brings you the latest news about the new and updated sea freight services our top carriers offer on main trade routes. It also covers relevant activities the carriers announced in the past two weeks.

New & updated services on main trade lanes

Asia <-> Indian Subcontinent

Ocean Network Express (ONE) will connect Northeast Asia and Pakistan/India in a new service to be launched next month. The new service, NP, will have the following rotation: Qingdao - Xingang - Busan - Port Kelang - Nhava Sheva - Pipavav – Karachi - Mundra - Colombo - Port Kelang - Singapore – Qingdao. The new service starts with GSL Nicoletta with an estimated time of arrival (ETA) at Qingdao on 19 October.

Similarly, ONE announced a new weekly service – Korea China Indonesia Service KCI- offering direct connections from East Asia to Indonesia. The new service will begin on TS Nansha ETA at Busan on 10 October. The port rotation will be: Busan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Jakarta – Surabaya – Shekou – Xiamen – Busan.

Asia <-> Mediterranean/Black Sea

Last month, CMA CGM suspended the TLX service, which connects Asia to the Mediterranean. The service had nine vessels deployed on the following port rotation: Shanghai – Ningbo – Nansha – Singapore – Jeddah – Iskenderun – Marsaxlokk – Misurata – Jeddah – Port Klang – Shanghai.

Indian Subcontinent <-> North Europe

Israeli carrier ZIM plans to terminate the ZMI service, connecting the Indian Subcontinent to Europe. The last vessel on this is due to depart from Mundra on 11 October. It will sail as follows: Mundra – Nhava Sheva – Colombo – Haifa – Izmir – Valencia – Felixstowe – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Ashdod – Limassol – Haifa – Mundra.

Intra-Africa

MSC launched a new Intra-Africa service under the name Zambezi Express. The service deploys two vessels with an average vessel capacity of 3,000 TEU. The port rotation of the service will be: Port Louis – Beira – Port Louis.

Intra-Asia

Starting 18 September, Evergreen will start a new service connecting Northeast and Southeast Asia. The service will be branded TVP and deploy four vessels with an average capacity of 2,000 TEU. The port rotation is: Ho Chi Minh – Laem Chabang – Haiphong – Kaohsiung – Manila – Subic Bay – Shekou – Hong Kong – Haiphong – Qinzhou – Zhanjiang – Hong Kong – Shekou – Nansha – Ho Chi Minh.

Also, for intra-Asia, HMM will launch a new service named KIS. According to Sea Intelligence, four vessels will be deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 4,700 TEU. Here is the port rotation starting on 2 October: Ningbo – Shanghai – Busan – Manila – Jakarta – Surabaya – Ningbo.

Intra-North Europe 

French carrier CMA CGM revised the port rotation of the SCANBA service by adding port calls at Antwerp, Vlissingen and Dunkirk. Three vessels are deployed on the service, with an average capacity of 800 TEU. The revised port rotation is: Oslo – Aarhus – Helsingborg – Gdansk – Tilbury – Dunkirk – Vlissingen – Antwerp – Bilbao – Tilbury – Rotterdam – Oslo.

Mediterranean/Black Sea <-> Africa

Next month, Hapag-Lloyd will revise the port rotation of the WA1 service, connecting the Mediterranean to West Africa. The new rotation adds port calls at Banjul and San Pedro. Sea Intelligence reports that with the revised rotation, the service will become a weekly service, and there will be three vessels deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 1,700 TEU. Here is the planned port rotation: Tangier – Nouakchott – Conakry – Freetown – San Pedro – Banjul – Tangier. The first vessel on this rotation will be Okee Cuno, due to depart from Tangier on 3 October.

Mediterranean/Black Sea <-> North Europe

ZIM will start cooperating the Israel Express service together with MSC. ZIM will brand the service ZN, for which five vessels are deployed with an average vessel capacity of 6,700 TEU. The port rotation of the service will be: London Gateway – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Ashdod – Haifa – Damietta – Valencia – London Gateway.

CMA CGM and ONE will reinstate the port call at Iskenderun on the NCLEVANT/NEX service. Six vessels will be deployed, with an average vessel capacity of 4,500 TEU. The port rotation is: Beirut – Mersin – Iskenderun – Salerno – Tangier – Felixstowe – Hamburg – Rotterdam – Antwerp – Le Havre – Marsaxlokk – Alexandria – Port Said – Beirut.

CMA CGM is also revising the PGE service by adding a port call at Tangier. Two vessels are deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 800 TEU. The following is the rotation after revision: Tilbury – Dunkirk – Rotterdam – Vlissingen – Tangier – Setubal – Leixoes – Ferrol – Tilbury.

North America <-> North Europe

The ZCA service operated by ZIM will be revised this month. The revision adds a port call at Alexandria, and the service will have eight vessels deployed, with an average vessel capacity of 4,000 TEU. The port rotation is: Barcelona – Alexandria – Mersin – Ashdod – Haifa – Aliaga – Piraeus – Genoa – Barcelona – Valencia – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Valencia – Barcelona.

North America <-> South America

CMA CGM announced adding a port call in Oakland on the AZTECA Loop 1 service, with direct calls from the US West Coast to Central America. According to the carrier, the new AZTECA 1 rotation will be: Los Angeles - Oakland - Manzanillo (MX) - Lazaro Cardenas - Puerto Quetzal - Corinto - Balboa - Puerto Caldera - Puerto Quetzal - Lazaro Cardenas - Los Angeles.

North Europe <-> Africa

Maersk, ONE and Hapag-Lloyd will revise the port rotation of the SAECS/SRX/SAX service, which connects North Europe to South Africa. Nine vessels will be deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 6,500 TEU. Following is the revised port rotation: Coega – Durban – Cape Town – Rotterdam – London Gateway – Bremerhaven – Algeciras – Coega. The first vessel with the new will be the MOL Presence, due to depart from Coega on 21 September.

More in carrier news…

The top carriers have announced multiple investment initiatives in the past two weeks, most strikingly in port terminals.

French carrier CMA CGM completed the acquisition of two container terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey earlier this month, reveals a report by the carrier. In addition to strengthening its position in the US, CMA CGM also announced it plans to start a development plan at both terminals that will provide needed capacity to support the fluidity of U.S. supply chains.

In addition, MSC has announced it entered into a binding agreement concerning a partnership with a leading port operator in Hamburg Port, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft (HHLA). In a press statement, MSC said it intends to acquire a substantive share of HHLA, where the latter will be operated “as a strategic joint venture, with the City of Hamburg holding a stake of 50.1% and MSC ultimately holding a stake of 49.9%.”

On the other hand, a report by Danish media Shipping Watch announced that Maersk has sold its port terminal in the city of Luanda in Angola, although the terminal “accounted for about a quarter of the logistics and liner giant’s port activity in Africa.”

However, Maersk has announced one significant investment in maritime shipping sustainability. A recent report revealed the liner will start producing three million tonnes of green methanol from 2030, Shipping Watch reveals. Maersk has established a new company called C2X to take on this task “through investments in large-scale green methanol production facilities.”

In the meantime, COSCO published its financial results late last month. The carrier revealed that during the second quarter of 2023, it achieved a net profit of $1.26 billion in its container handling operations, registering an increase compared to the $1.04 billion profit in the year's first quarter.