Russian container carrier Transmasters have taken control of 3 former Wan Hai ships of 1,662 teu for its China-Russia service. The 3 ships - WAN HAI 261, WAN HAI 262, WAN HAI 263 - were originally to be sold for scrap but they have been retaken by Chinese owners and renamed as HONRISE, NEW EVERPROSPER and STAR BRIGHT respectively. The 3 ships have joined Transmasters progressively in July and August 2023 and deployed on the China-Russia service that calls at Lianyungang, Taicang, Nansha, Colom
Tailwind Shipping Lines, the shipping subsidiary of German retailer Lidl, will revise its Panda Express (PAX) service between China and Europe with new calls at Colombo from October 2023 to cater for transhipment cargo from Bangladesh. The revamped service will deploy 5 ships of 4,900-5,700 teu on a fortnightly frequency connecting Qingdao, Ningbo, Da Chan Bay, Colombo, Koper, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Qingdao on a 70 day rotation. Tailwind will withdraw the direct connection between Chittagong and
CMA CGM will add a new call at Gdansk on the Asia-Europe FAL 1 service that is operated as part of the OCEAN Alliance NEU1 service from the westbound rotation starting from 10 August 2023. The service is branded respectively as AEU2 by COSCO, LL4 by OOCL and FAL1 by Evergreen. The extended FAL 1 rotation will call at Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras/Tanger Med (alternate calls), Dunkirk, Le Havre, Hamburg, Gdansk (new from 5 Oct 2023), Rotterdam, Algeciras, Port Klang, Bus
MSC has increased its exposure to the Russian market with a new China to St Petersburg relay service via Klaipeda and Antwerp. With a total capacity of over 8,000 teu per week, MSC has further solidified its position as the largest carrier in the Russia Baltic market that it has maintained despite the ongoing European Union sanctions against Russia. MSC has deployed the 4,112 teu MSC VAISHNAVI R. on the Klaipeda-St Petersburg feeder service since 27 May 2023 with the frequency improved in July
MSC will reinstate the Asia-North Europe Swan service from June 2023. The service will call at Qingdao, Ningbo, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Antwerp, Gdynia, Gdansk, Klaipeda, King Abdullah Port, Singapore, Qingdao. The Swan service will be operated independently by MSC outside of the 2M partnership with Maersk. It replaces the previous Swan/AE-2 service that was part of the initial 2M offering launched in January 2015. The Swan/AE-2 was jointly operated by the 2M using ships of 14,000-15,500 teu
Maersk and MSC have announced the suspension of their AE1/Shogun service that is one of the 6 Asia-North Europe loops operated within the 2M alliance. Although officially suspended from week 11 of 2023, the AE1/Shogun service was already operated irregularly since September 2022 with just 3 voyages made in the 4th quarter with the last sailing made on 13 December 2022 when the 14,036 teu MSC ALEXANDRA made the last westbound voyage from Asia. The AE1/Shogun called at Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian,
THE Alliance carriers (Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, ONE and Yang Ming) have ended the Cape of Good Hope routing on the eastbound (backhaul) legs of the FE2, FE3 and FE4 services from North Europe to Asia that started since November 2022 and have switched back to the regular route via the Suez Canal. The last FE2 sailing to take the Cape route was the 19,870 teu AL ZUBARA that departed from Rotterdam on 5 March 2023 after 10 consecutive sailings that skipped the Suez route. The Cape routing was already en
Safetrans Line will launch a new St Petersburg Direct Service from China. The St Petersburg Direct Service will start from 27 February 2023 and will connect Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Tangier (irregular), St Petersburg, Qingdao. Port rotation of the new Safetrans Line St Petersburg Direct ServiceIt will operate initially on a fortnightly basis with the intention to turn into a weekly service from April. The first voyage will be performed by the newly chartered 3,469 teu HENG HUI 2 an
Tailwind Shipping Lines has launched a new service from Bangladesh to Europe called the Tiger Express (TEX) service. The service is named after the Bengal tiger and will connect Chittagong, Barcelona, Moerdijk, Chittagong, with a transit time of less than 20 days between Chittagong and Barcelona. The TEX is scheduled to start from 11 March 2023 with the 917 teu FAITH. The service will operate on an irregular frequency with 3 ships of 800-900 teu on a 17 day frequency. Tailwind had already opera
Hapag-Lloyd will take slots from CMA CGM on the Asia-North Europe FAL3 service (operated as the OCEAN Alliance NEU5) starting from 14 February 2023. The service connects Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Tangier, Southampton, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre, Tangier, Jeddah, Qingdao with Hapag-Lloyd not participating on the calls at Tangier. Hapag-Lloyd will brand the services as the FE9, which will add to the existing Hapag-Lloyd Asia-Europe services operated through THE Alliance o