COSCO and OOCL will join CNC, the intra-Asia arm of CMA CGM, in a new intra-Asia partnership involving 2 existing services operated by CNC that will both be upgraded to the 6,000-7,000 teu scale. The first service involves the existing CNC Korea China Straits Service (KCS) that calls at Xingang, Dalian, Lianyungang, Qingdao, Singapore, Jakarta, Surabaya, Manila, Xingang. The joint service will start from 29 December 2023, using 5 ships of which CNC will provide 4 ships (the 7,092 teu PELION, 6,
CMA CGM and COSCO have launched a new Asia Subcontinent Express 2 (AS2) service that connects Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Colombo, Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Singapore, Shanghai from 16 November 2023. The AS2 will turn in 5 weeks using 5 ships of 4,200-6,300 teu, of which 4 ships are operated by CMA CGM (4,253 teu DERBY, 5,466 teu CMA CGM LEKKI, 6,350 teu APL MINNESOTA and TBN vessel)and 1 ship is from COSCO (5,085 teu COSCO NEW YORK).
Maersk and CMA CGM will upgrade their Far East-West Africa service to the 13,300-13,800 teu scale 8 from December 2023, with the launch of the revised FW1/WAX service that will call at Qingdao, Kwangyang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Tema, Lekki, Abidjan, Pointe Noire, Colombo, Singapore, Xiamen, Qingdao. The upgraded FW1/WAX service will start from 5 December 2023 with the 13,302 teu MAERSK EDIRNE and will turn in 13 weeks using 13 ships from Maersk and CMA CG
CMA CGM'S intra-Asia arm CNC has upgraded the Korea China Southeast Asia (KCS) service to the 6,000-7,000 teu scale, making it the largest dedicated intra-Asia service alongside Maersk/Sealand Asia's IA-8 service that deploys ships in the 6,000 teu size. These 2 intra-Asia services are the largest services in the North Asia-Southeast Asia corridor that commonly employs ships in the 1,700-4,200 teu scale. The KCS calls at Xingang, Dalian, Lianyungang, Qingdao, Singapore, Jakarta, Surabaya, Man
MSC has extended its lead at the top of the carrier rankings, with its current fleet reaching 5.36m teu, up from 4.61m teu at the beginning of January. Newbuilding deliveries contributed 557,000 teu to the increase, with the rest coming from second hand vessel acquisitions and new charters. MSC has grown at an average rate of 83,000 teu a month, with its lead over 2nd place Maersk rising to 1.24m teu. Maersk has seen its operated fleet shrink from 4.21m teu at the beginning of the year to 4.12
CNC (CMA CGM) will add a new call at Dalian on its Korea China Southeast Asia (KCS) service from 30 September 2023, with the revised rotation calling at Xingang, Dalian, Lianyungang, Qingdao, Singapore, Jakarta, Surabaya, Manila, Xingang. The service turns in 35 days using 5 ships of 4,000-6,000 teu with KMTC, ONE and SITC taking slots.
CMA CGM will add a new Lekki Feeder service that connects Lekki and Cotonou with the 1,736 teu EM HYDRA that will be phased in at Lekki on 15 October 2023.
CMA CGM has withdrawn its new Turkey Libya Express (TLX) service after just 6 sailings from Asia to the Red Sea, Turkey and Libya. The service start on 2 July 2023 with the 2,468 teu BUXLINK and called at Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Singapore, Jeddah, Iskenderun, Malta, Misurata with several ad hoc calls at Lianyungang and Tripoli. Only 6 headhaul sailings were conducted by the 3,534 teu HOPE ISLAND, 4,506 teu CMA CGM OSAKA, 4,294 teu CMA CGM MONTOIR, 4,253 teu CMA CGM PERTH and 4,404 teu CMA CG
CNC (CMA CGM), COSCO and Samudera have teamed up to operate a new Singapore-Haiphong feeder service offering twice weekly departures using 3 ships on an 10-11 day rotation. The service is branded respectively as the Haiphong Singapore Feeder 1 (HSF1CNC) by CNC, Singapore-North Vietnam Express (NVX) by COSCO and North Vietnam Service (NVS) by Samudera. The joint service incorporates the 3 carriers' existing North Vietnam services, with the existing NVX/NVS operated by COSCO and Samudera revamped
Charter rates for ships below 5,000 teu have tumbled with an increasing pool of redelivered ships and relets while charter periods have also shortened with carriers unwilling to commit to longer periods in a slowing market. Rates for ships above 5,000 teu have remained relatively resilient but this is only due to the limited number of candidates available in the market. Zim continues to shed its surplus tonnage, with the 4,252 teu VOLANS redelivered 10 months early and retaken by Hapag-Lloyd at