ARKAS line of Turkey sent the 178m long, 17,687gt/2009 built Wanda a to the Port of Hamburg on 20th April having been deployed on the West Africa Express Service (WAX) operated by ARKAS and Hapag-Lloyd. Demand is such that ARKAS has now deployed one of its own ships on to the line. The weekly service operates from Hamburg via Algeciras, Dakar, Lagos/Apapa, Tincan Island, Tema, Abidjan and Tangiers, then back via Antwerp to Hamburg. Hapag-Lloyd deploys five 1,700 TEU vessels in the service.

New Alliance

CMA CGM, COSCO Container lines, Evergreen line and orient overseas Container line have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a new alliance covering the Asia- Europe, Asia-Mediterranean, Asia-Red Sea, Asia-Middle East, transpacific, Asia-North America East Coast, and transatlantic trades. The ocean alliance, as the new partnership is called, has more than 350 containerships. Subject to regulatory approvals of competent authorities, the new alliance plans to begin operations in April 2017. The initial period of the alliance shall be five years. This pact is regarded as a milestone agreement among some of the world’s leading container shipping lines that includes three of the current top six. The huge new partnership, which will have consequences for the entire container shipping industry, had been widely anticipated. Initially the deployment will cover more than 40 services globally, mostly connected with Asia, including about 20 services each in the US and Europe-related trades, the quartet said. Cosco and Evergreen are currently both members of the CKYHE alliance, alongside K Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping. The French operator also commenced a new Feeder service on the West Africa trade services from 8th May. West Feeder 2 commenced at Pointe Noire using on 618 TEU ship. On a fortnightly basis, the service will have the following rotation: Pointe Noire-Librevilledouala- Pointe Noire. CMA CGM has also confirmed that it will delay the introduction of 18,000 TEU ships in a service between Asia and the US west coast. The line had planned to upgrade its Pearl River Express from the end of May 2016 after trials involving the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin visiting several US Pacific coast ports to make sure they could handle ultra large containerships, but has since reversed that decision. The current transpacific market situation sealed the decision. The Pearl River Express will now continue to be operated with the 11,000 TEU class vessels. The EU approved CMA CGM’s acquisition of Nol at the end of April.

Cosco Hope

COSCO’s 141,823gt/2012 built and 13,100 TEU capacity Cosco Hope collided with a gantry crane as she attempted to depart from Port Said on 2nd May. The crane’s boom fell onto containers on the berth, and local media suggests it also hit a fuel tank. More than 20 containers burned and two people were injured in the accident. The Suez Canal authority deployed fire engines and tugs to the scene to control the ensuing fire.

G6 Alliance

G6 alliance has announced plans to enhance its coverage on the Asia-North America east coast trade following the opening of the Panama Canal’s third locks. In a joint statement, the six member lines of the alliance (API, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mol, NYK and OOCL) said in response to the upgrade of the canal and seasonal changes in market demand it will not only update services and employ post-Panamax tonnage of 10,000 TEU capacity, but also introduce a new loop on the route this summer. To be known as the NYX, the new service began in week 23 (the new lock system opens officially from 27th July with the first reservation going to Nippon Yusen Kaisha’s 78,874 m3 liquefied petroleum gas carrier linden Pride) and will focus on coverage between central and northern China/South Korea to the US east coast. NYX will depart from Qingdao calling Ningbo, Shanghai and Busan before it heads through the Panama Canal, where it will then call Manzanillo (Panama), New York, Norfolk, Savannah. The service will stop again at Manzanillo on its return journey and only Busan before it returns to Qingdao. The g6 will also reshuffle the port rotation of both its Pa1 and Pa2 services. On its Pa1 pendulum service, the new rotation will see the service start and end in Busan, making just the one call in Shanghai on its outward journey rather than the previous two. Savannah and Norfolk on the US east coast will also see their coverage reduced to one scheduled stop. Meanwhile, on the Pa2 service, the port rotation will be enhanced to include an additional call in Shanghai, but it will no longer call in New York. The g6 said as a result of these changes, it will suspend the current NYE/SCE Combo and NCE services, with the last sailings scheduled for 2nd June and 29th May respectively. The g6 also resumed the CC2 service on the Asia-North America west coast trade in week 21 and, as a result, the CC4 will return to its original port rotation as a shuttle service between central China and the US west coast.

Hanjin Problems

Hanjin Shipping, South Korea’s largest shipping line, is facing a creditor-led restructuring, following a similar move already undertaken by its debt-ridden compatriot Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM). The KDB-led creditors are concerned that the struggling carrier, hit by unfavourable market conditions and high charter costs, might default on debts due over the next three months. Hanjin Shipping has Won500 billion ($442.1m) worth of corporate bonds maturing in the first half of 2016, according to a recent exchange filing and in March it issued hybrid bonds worth Won220bn to repay a loan from Korean air lines, its biggest shareholder. The carrier is also planning to sell assets in order to generate more liquidity. owning 37 containerships, Hanjin operates 56 chartered-in containerships from 22 different owners, including Danaos Shipping, Seaspan and Peter Doehle Schiffahrts-Kg. Seaspan also has three 10,000 TEU ships chartered out to Hanjin at a daily rate of $43,000 through to 2024. KDB already owns more than half of HMM’s KRW1.2trn ($1.06bn) bonds. It is looking to take a 30% stake in HMM through a debt-for-equity swap, with other creditors taking 20%. HMM, as well as selling off many divisions, has been desperately negotiating with owners to cut the fees of its chartered fleet in a bid to keep creditors at bay.

Suez Grounding

An event that seems to occur quite frequently is the grounding of large containerships and on 28th April it was the turn of the 140,259gt/2010 built MSC Fabiola, a 12,500 TEU, 366m ship chartered by MSC and operated by the German company Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-Kg. The MSC Fabiola went hard aground at kilometre post 144 whilst she was number 10 in a southbound convoy of 20 vessels with the rest of the convoy, consisting of 8 vessels, stopped behind her. Northbound convoys scheduled for 29th April were suspended, whilst the southbound convoys started at 0800 but were forced to stop and wait at great Bitter lakes. The errant ship was refloated at 0120 on 30th April following assistance from tugs, and was able to resume her southbound transit.

Hapag Lloyd & UASC to Join Forces?

Hapag-Lloyd AG and United Arab Shipping Company SAG (UASC) are currently discussing forms of co-operation including a potential combination of their mutual container shipping operations with a 72/28 split in favour of Hapag-Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd also added that the merger would be subject to a mutually satisfactory completion of the negotiations.

Maersk to Cuba

Maersk Line has introduced a direct service into Cuba following the lifting of US economic sanctions. The company made its maiden call in the port of Mariel, located approximately 50km west of the Cuban capital Havana, with the 2,556 TEU ship ER Cape Town on 22nd April. The Cuba call is part of an adjusted port rotation of the existing reefer service, which connects northern Europe with Latin America and the Caribbean. The service is also supplemented by a weekly feeder service from Mariel to Santiago in southeast Cuba.

MSC Lana at Karachi

MSC’s 23,722gt/1999 built MSC Lana made her inaugural call at Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) as April came to a close, marking the launch of a new Middle East Loop 1 (MEL 1) Service. To mark the event, KICT held a maiden voyage ceremony. This new service follows a rotation of Karachi-Jabel Ali- Sharjah-Sohar-Karachi, additionally serving all upper Gulf destinations via Jabel Ali. The weekly service calls at KICT every Monday.

New Ship for NYK

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) took delivery in April of the 364m long and 14,000 TEU container ship NYK Blue Jay from Japan Marine United Corp. The 144,285gt vessel, which successfully completed sea trials on 22nd February, is the first of 10 ordered by NYK for operation on the Asia-European shipping lanes. She is powered by a Wärtsilä brand Generation X two-stroke diesel engine. The 9- cylinder Wärtsilä X82 is designed by Winterthur Gas & Diesel in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Ocean Alliance Exclusions

Ocean Three, G6 & CKYHE Alliance members, eight operators in total, that have been excluded from the recently announced Ocean Alliance, may team up to establish an all-new alliance. The carriers affected by the expected reshuffling are Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui OSK Lines and NYK Line from the G6 Alliance, Hanjin Shipping, K Line and Yang Ming from CKYHE, and United Arab Shipping Co, from Ocean Three. An official announcement was expected in May. A ninth carrier, Hamburg Süd, which currently partners with UASC and CMA CGM, will also be concerned by the reshaping of the alliances.

K Line

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) is seeking partners to form a new container line alliance as China Cosco, its current CHYHE ally, prepares to leave for a new, larger alliance in 2017 (see below). The Japanese carrier operates five 14,000 TEU vessels with another five on order, which will be delivered in 2018. The ten vessels, which will enable K Line to form a loop in Asia-Europe trades on its own, are a crucial move to strengthen the company’s position in future slot exchange agreements.