Market Pulse 2026 Week 07

Services

Wan Hai and Interasia Lines add new Taiwan-Vietnam-SE Asia (TVS) service

Wan Hai and Interasia Lines (IAL) have jointly launched a new Taiwan-Vietnam-SE Asia TVS) service connecting Port Klang, Penang, Port Klang, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung, Ho Chi Minh City, Port Klang from 1 February 2026. The service turns in 21 days using 3 ships of 1,700-2,000 teu starting with the 1,756 teu INTERASIA VISION at Port Klang on 1 February 2026, followed by the 2,038 teu WAN HAI 291 and WAN HAI 293. The New Super 5 (NS5) service operated by Wan Hai and IAL will be revis

Services

CLdN to acquire Samskip's UK & Eire services

European short sea operator CLdN has announced on 17 February 2026 an agreement to acquire Samskip's services connecting Rotterdam with the UK and Ireland. The deal covers the container shipping services currently operated by Samskip between Rotterdam and the UK ports of Belfast, Blyth, Grangemouth, Hull and Tilbury and the Irish ports of Cork, Dublin and Waterford using 6 chartered ships of 650 to 1,080 teu. Following the completion of the sale which is still subject to regulatory approvals, S

Services

TS Lines to add North China-Thailand Express (NTX) service

TS Lines will add a new North China-Thailand Express (NTX) service by teaming up with CMA CGM's intra-Asia arm CNC on the latter's existing North China-Thailand 8 (NT8) service from 30 March 2026. TS Lines will deploy the 2,954 teu TS TACOMA on the service, replacing 1 of 3 ships currently deployed by CNC on this service that connects Laem Chabang, Hong Kong, Nansha, Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shekou, Laem Chabang.

MarketPulse

Market Pulse 2026 Week 07

Register Free Trial Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to pay $4.2Bn to acquire ZIM in the largest carrier consolidation move since 2017 when COSCO acquired OOCL. The deal will still require regulatory approvals and triggered a protest strike at Zim’s head office in Israel over the weekend. It comes as carriers’ ability to halt the rate slump will be tested again via another GRI push planned on 1 March despite the weaker cargo demand after the Chinese New Year holidays. The transpacific route is most at ri

Companies

Hapag-Lloyd to acquire ZIM for $4.2Bn

Hapag-Lloyd announced on 16 February an agreement to acquire ZIM, through a structure that involves the Israeli private equity investor FIMI Opportunity Funds. The completion of the transaction will be subject to agreement by the Israeli government as well as additional regulatory approvals and the consent of the shareholders’ meeting of ZIM. The announcement follows leaks by Israeli media over the weekend with Hapag-Lloyd confirming on 15 February that it is in advanced discussions to acquire

Services

COSCO extends CPV transpacific service to Yangpu hub

COSCO has extended its China-Pacific Northwest Coast/Vancouver (CPV) service with the addition of new calls at Yangpu, Haiphong and Hong Kong from January 2026 in order to provide additional connectivity to its Transpacific network. The extended CPV service will call at Yangpu, Haiphong, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Shanghai, Vancouver, Seattle, Xingang, Dalian, Lianyungang, Qingdao, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yangpu. The service will turn in 9 weeks and will deploy up to 9 ships of 4,200 to 5,100 teu from COSCO

Services

ONE & Wan Hai to launch new PS8/AP2 transpacific service

ONE and Wan Hai will launch their jointly operated PS8/AP2 transpacific service calling at Qingdao, Ningbo, Los Angeles, Oakland, Qingdao from 18 May 2026. The service will turn in 6 weeks and will initially deploy 5 ships with 1 skipped sailing in each cycle with ONE to operate 3 ships and Wan Hai to operate 2 ships starting with the 4,680 teu WAN HAI 517 scheduled to call at Qingdao on 18 May 2026. ONE's Premier Alliance partners HMM and Yang Ming will also take slots on this service as the P

Services

Premier Alliance set for new Vietnam Shuttle Express (VSE) / Far East Latin Pendulum (FLP) launch

Premier Alliance partners HMM, ONE and Yang Ming will launch a new Vietnam Shuttle Express (VSE)/Far East Latin Pendulum (FLP) service calling at Singapore, Cai Mep, Haiphong, Los Angeles, Busan, Shanghai, Shekou, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Itapoa, Singapore from 28 April 2026. The VSE/FLP will turn in 17 weeks, using 17 ships of 5,000-7,000 teu. It will replace the current Far East-Latin America 2/East Coast South America Express 2 (FL2/SX2) that is operated by HMM and ONE with the ser

Services

Ocean Alliance and ONE to rationalise Transatlantic network

The OCEAN Alliance partners (CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL and Evergreen) and ONE will remove 1 of the 3 Transatlantic services that they jointly operate from March 2026 as part of a service rationalisation exercise. The average capacity operated by the 4 partners will be reduced from 21,500 teu to 15,500 teu weekly. The South Atlantic (SATL) service calling at Le Havre, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Southampton, Charleston, Savannah, Le Havre using 5 ships of 6,300-6,500 teu from ONE and Evergreen will be with

Services

MSC to launch new Firehorse and Kouprey intra-Asia services

MSC will launch a new Firehorse service connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Singapore, Surabaya, Semarang, Singapore, Shanghai from 5 March 2026. The service will turn in 28 days and will deploy 4 ships of 2,500 teu starting with the 2,546 teu MSC PALATIUM III at Shanghai on 5 March. MSC will also launch a new Kouprey service connecting Sihanoukville, Singapore, Sihanoukville from 27 February with the 1,708 teu SEA STAR 1. These changes are part of a larger upgrade of MSC's intra-Asia services that a

MarketPulse

Market Pulse 2026 Week 06

Register Free Trial TEU-mile demand is trending higher YoY due to the later date of Chinese New Year this year, with the higher demand keeping charter rates elevated as carriers are still chasing tonnage even as profitability continues to deteriorate. Maersk reported an EBIT loss of -$153m for its Ocean Shipping business in the 4th quarter, dragging down the company’s consolidated net earnings to -$70m despite positive contributions from its logistics and terminal businesses. Hapag-Lloyd avoide

Services

GT Lines to launch India Sharjah Express (ISX) service

Gulftainer's container shipping division GT Lines will launch its first self-operated service from 8 March 2026. The India Sharjah Express (ISX) will connect Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Khor Fakkan, Sharjah, Hamriyah, Mundra turning in 14days using 2 ships of 950 teu. The service will be the first to call at the Hamriyah Container Terminal. GT Lines launched its first service on 17 December 2025 with the India Gulf Express (GIX) through slots on COSCO Shipping's Asia Gulf India 2 (AGI2) service that c

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