TS Lines will be the latest new entrant to the Asia-Europe trade when it joins CUL as a vessel operator on the latter's Asia Europe Express (AEX) service on 17 March 2022. TS Lines will deploy the 4,380 teu TS SINGAPORE on the AEX, joining 5 other ships from CUL of 4,000-4,400 teu. The service calls at Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shekou, Tilbury, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Ningbo with ad-hoc calls added on inducement at Qingdao, Yantian and Ho Chi Minh City.
The Ellerman name is revived by Iain Liddell for a new service connecting China to the UK but the service will be marketed under the UniOcean Lines brand. The service has kicked off on with the 2,464 teu BUXHANSA that called at Ningbo on 7 December 2021 and Dachan Bay on 11 December. The ship is currently heading to the Tilbury in the UK. Ellerman has also taken the newly delivered 2,756 teu CAPE HELLAS, that has been chartered for 30 months at a reported daily rate of $54k. The ship docked at
First new entrant on the Asia-North Europe route since 2004.
Although spot freight rates to North Europe have declined from their peak in January 2021, various carriers are adding ad-hoc sailings on this route using MPP tonnage
Record high rates have pushed freight forwarder DSV to mount its first self operated sailing on the Asia-Europe route using chartered MPP ships.
The delivery dates of HMM's giant boxships will remain largely unchanged despite COVID-19