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 <-> Mediterranean/Black Sea
The Ocean Alliance replaced the port call at Port Said with Alexandria in its BEX/AEM3/EM1 service.
This service, which deploys ten vessels with an average vessel capacity of 9,000 TEU, now has the following rotation: Shanghai – Ningbo – Xiamen – Shekou – Singapore – Alexandria – Beirut – Tripoli – Izmit – Ambarli – Constanza – Piraeus – Alexandria – Jeddah – Port Klang – Shanghai.
Asia <-> North America
Starting 4 December, the port rotation of MSC's Santana service will add a port call at Qingdao and drop the port call at Norfolk. Santana deploys eleven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 12,000 TEU.
The new rotation will start on board MSC Benedetta: Yantian – Ningbo – Shanghai – Qingdao – Busan – Manzanillo (Mexico) – Cristobal – Caucedo – New York – Yantian.
Asia <-> North Europe
The carriers of the Ocean Alliance decided to revise the port rotation of the FAL3/ AEU6/LL5/FE9 service by dropping the port calls at Vung Tau and Jeddah. According to Sea Intelligence, twelve vessels are deployed with an average vessel capacity of 21,000 TEU.
The first vessel with the revised rotation, CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery, departed from Qingdao on 15 November.
This is the port rotation of this service: Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Yantian – Singapore – Tangier – Rotterdam – Southampton – Antwerp – Le Havre – Algeciras – Singapore – Qingdao.
Indian Subcontinent <-> North America
Ocean Network Express (ONE) announced a new West India North America service (WIN) connecting India's west coast and the US East Coast.
This service is set to start in May 2024 with the following rotation: Bin Qasim – Hazira – Nhava Sheva – Mundra – Damietta – Algeciras – New York – Savannah – Jacksonville – Charleston – Norfolk – Damietta – Jeddah – Bin Qasim.
The carrier is yet to announce more details about this service.
Intra-Asia
CMA CGM is launching a new service named Asia Subcontinent Express 2 (AS2) this month. The service connects Asia with the Indian Subcontinent on 3 December on board the APL MINNESOTA. Port Rotation is Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Colombo – Mundra – Nhava Sheva – Singapore – Shanghai.
Intra-Oceania
Maersk's Polaris service will have a new port rotation where the port call at Melbourne will be replaced with Sydney. In addition, the port call at Auckland will be changed from fortnightly to weekly. Three vessels will be deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 2,000 TEU.
The port rotation is Port Chalmers – Sydney – Auckland – Nelson – Timaru – Port Chalmers. Nicolai Maersk will be the first vessel with the revised rotation, which is due to depart from Port Chalmers on 7 December.
Mediterranean/Black Sea <-> North Europe
Carrier CMA CGM revised the port rotation of the EUROMAR service by adding a port call at Tilbury, adding a second port call at Rotterdam and dropping the Northbound port call at Tangier. Four vessels will be deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 1,400 TEU.
Following is the port rotation: Tangier – Casablanca – Agadir – Tangier – Tilbury – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Rotterdam – Le Havre – Vigo – Tangier.
North America <-> North Europe
CMA CGM and COSCO revised the MEDGULF/MDGX service. The changes to the service include dropping the port call in Miami and temporarily adding a port call in Cartagena (Colombia). Seven vessels are deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 2,500 TEU.
The revised port rotation is Tangier – La Spezia – Genoa – Barcelona – Valencia – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – Cartagena (Colombia) – Tangier.
The carriers highlighted that the temporarily added port call at Cartagena will be in effect for four consecutive voyages.
North America <-> South America
Israeli carrier ZIM revised the port rotation of the CGX service by adding port calls at New York and Halifax and increasing the number of vessels on the service from three to four. The new port rotation is Kingston – New York – Halifax – Kingston – Houston – Altamira – Santo Tomas de Castilla – Puerto Cortes – Kingston.
More in carrier news…
Following the political conflict in the Middle East, several carriers announced changes to some services in the region. To protect the safety of vessels, Maersk, ONE and ZIM took precautionary measures involving ports in the Red and Arabian seas.
Carriers have also updated their procedures for the Panama Canal. MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM announced they will impose a surcharge for containers transiting through the Canal starting 1 January 2024.
In addition, Maersk decided to stop accepting bookings to and from Syria in relation to the sanctions imposed on the country. The carrier announced the bookings will cease on 1 December. The final Maersk vessel to call Syria was Maersk Narmada on 28 November.
Meanwhile, the month brought many investments in technology and sustainability.
One of the key investments was described as a "landmark deal" by Danish carrier Maersk. The liner signed an agreement with green methanol supplier Goldwind. According to the carrier's announcement, the supplier will deliver 500,000 tonnes of green methanol to Maersk annually starting in 2026.
At the same time, ONE announced it would test two containerised wind assist devices provided by a Dutch maritime wind power company. The devices will be installed on the feeder vessel MV Kalamazoo as a start, expecting them to generate up to 400kW of power, reducing fuel consumption by 5%.
In technology, both CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd announced partnering with IT experts for their businesses. CMA CGM is working with Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, to open a non-profit laboratory dedicated to open AI research. The lab, titled Kyutai, seeks to be a leading establishment for AI science in the region. However, the liner did not reveal the lab's connections with its shipping business.
This month, Hapag-Lloyd launched a new technology centre in Chennai, India, where a team of 180 IT professionals plan to develop software solutions for the company's maritime sector. Solverminds, a leading expert in IT solutions for the maritime industry, will operate the centre through a joint venture with the carrier.
