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

On 17 November, the first vessel on a new ONE service will start a journey connecting Asia to the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. The service, SIG, will have the following rotation: Singapore – Nhava Sheva – Mundra – Ad Dammam – Jebel Ali – Cochin – Colombo – Singapore. The vessel's name and the average capacity deployed for this service are yet to be announced.

Asia <-> North America 

THE Alliance will revise their Transpacific service portfolio, affecting the services EC1, EC2, EC4 and EC5. Here are the details of the changes:

• EC1: A new port call at Xiamen will be added to the port rotation as follows: Kaohsiung – Xiamen – Yantian – Yangshan – Ningbo – Busan – Manzanillo (Panama) – New York – Norfolk – Charleston – Savannah – Manzanillo (Panama) – Rodman – Kaohsiung. According to Sea Intelligence data, the first vessel will be the Basle Express departing Kaohsiung on 20 November. In addition, there will be twelve vessels deployed with an average vessel capacity of 13,200 TEU.
• EC2: THE Alliance is adding a port call at Yantian. The port rotation will be: Qingdao – Yantian – Ningbo – Yangshan – Busan – Cartagena (Colombia) – Savannah – Charleston – Wilmington – Norfolk – Cartagena (Colombia) – Busan – Qingdao. There will be eleven vessels deployed with an average vessel capacity of 13,300 TEU. Al Qibla Express will be the first vessel on the new rotation, departing Qingdao on 12 November.
• EC4: Starting in November, this service will be suspended until further notice. The last vessel on the service will be YM Wind, departing Kaohsiung on 6 November.
• EC5: This service will start calling at New York and Charleston ports, and the port rotation will be: Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Singapore – Colombo – Halifax – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Jacksonville – Charleston – New York – Halifax – Jebel Ali – Singapore – Laem Chabang. The first vessel on this rotation will be ONE Cygnus, due to depart from Laem Chabang on 15 November.

Asia <-> North Europe

THE Alliance is also revising a group of services on the Asia-North Europe route as follows:

• FE3: A port call at Cai Mep will be added to the original rotation starting 10 November on board the Manila Express. The new rotation will be: Ningbo – Xiamen – Kaohsiung – Yantian – Cai Mep – Singapore – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Southampton – Algeciras – Singapore – Yantian – Hong Kong – Kaohsiung – Ningbo. Twelve vessels will be deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 21,600 TEU.
• FE4: Colombo Port will be added to the port rotation for this service. The planned change will be as follows: Tianjin Xingang – Qingdao – Busan – Yangshan – Yantian – Colombo – Algeciras – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Antwerp – Tangier – Singapore – Tianjin Xingang. HMM Gdansk is the first vessel on the new rotation, departing Laem Chabang on 3 November.
• FE5: This service will be suspended until further notice, with the last vessel being YM Wreath sailing from Laem Chabang on 9 November.

Intra-North Europe

Starting on 24 October, CMA CGM will revise the port rotation of the FLX service by adding a port call at Gdansk. The service deploys two vessels with an average vessel capacity of 1,400 TEU. Following is the changed port rotation, which will start on board the vessel Escape: Bremerhaven – Hamburg – Kotka – Helsinki – Tallinn – Gdansk – Bremerhaven.

Mediterranean/Black Sea <-> Africa

In addition, CMA CGM will revise the route of the Noura Express service. The carrier will add a port call at Mombasa and drop the port call at Colombo. As per the data, six vessels are deployed on the service, with an average vessel capacity of 2,000 TEU. Here is the new rotation: Jebel Ali – Mombasa – Mogadishu – Mtwara – Beira – Nacala – Port Victoria – Jebel Ali. The first vessel with the revised rotation will be Ubena, due to depart from Jebel Ali on 2 November.

North America <-> South America

Starting January next year, carrier ZIM will launch a new service, branded ZGT, to connect the two Americas. The average vessel capacity on the service will be 2,800 TEU, and the name of the first vessel is yet to be announced. The port rotation will be as follows: Buenos Aires – Montevideo – Navegantes/Itapoa – Paranagua – Santos – Rio de Janeiro – Cartagena (Colombia) – Kingston – Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – Mobile – Kingston– Cartagena (Colombia) –Santos – Buenos Aires.

More in carrier news…

After publishing its intention to acquire Hamburg's leading port operator, HHLA, MSC received approval from the State of Hamburg to begin the process of acquiring shares in the company. The partnership between the two parties would take place under an investor agreement. A statement issued by HHLA highlighted that "the City of Hamburg will remain the majority shareholder." The City of Hamburg will hold a 50.1% stake, while MSC will have a stake of 49.9%.

In the meantime, a report by Business Korea wrote that Korea's Development Bank, the entity sponsoring the potential sale of container liner HMM, said that the carrier may not necessarily be sold after all. Several candidates submitted intentions to acquire a stake in HMM. However, no developments have been reported since then.

Also in the news, market experts have highlighted the risk of overcapacity among container carriers. Sea Intelligence analysts believe a large number of ship orders will be delivered this year and the next, which could create an imbalance between supply and demand.

On the operational side, carrier ZIM imposed a war risk premium surcharge for calls in Israel as ports continue to operate with minor interruptions. According to an announcement by the company, ZIM continues to operate and accept bookings to and from Israel. "Service interruptions may occur, on short notice, as a result of safety guidelines dictated by the Israeli authorities, at which time we will provide additional updates," it added.