APL announced on 16th July that the West Asia Express (WAX) service was to begin calling additionally at Xingang, Busan and Sohar as part of its service rotation from 26th July. The port rotation is now as follows: Xingang-Busan-Qingdao-Shanghai-Shekou-Singapore-Sohar-Jebel Ali-Doha-Dammam-Jubail-Singapore-Xingang. Three days later both APL & OOCL announced that the Gulf Asia Express 2 (GA2 for APL & ME4 for OOCL) would call additionally at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr from 6th August plus a second call to Jebel Ali during the return leg of its service rotation to Asia. The new rotation is as follows: Shanghai-Ningbo-Taipei- Shekou-Tanjung Pelepas-Port Klang-Jebel Ali-Umm Qasr-Jebel Ali-Port Klang-Hong Kong-Shanghai. On 21st July Yokohama welcomed the renamed 82,794gt/2005 built President Kennedy (formerly CMA CGM Narmada/Conti Le Havre and Hanjin Yantian) on APL’s Eagle Express 1 (EX1) service. The ship is the first of six vessels that were newly-named after former U.S. Presidents to call at the Japanese port. Next to call at the port were President FD Roosevelt, President Wilson, President Cleveland, President Truman and President Eisenhower to each arrive with their weekly EX1 shipments. The improved EX1 service calls at Qingdao-Shanghai-Busan-Los Angeles-Oakland-Yokohama-Naha-Busan and Qingdao.

The seemingly ever-evolving APL revealed on 27th July that it was opening a new Japan Russia Express (JRX) service on 24th August from Yokohama, the only weekly Japan-Russia ocean freight service to be available in the marketplace. Jointly operated with TG FESCO, the JRX service offers unparalleled transit times between Yokohama and (9 days) and the rotation is: Vostochny-Vladivostok-Yokohama-Shimizu-Nagoya-Kobe-Busan-Vostochny. On the afternoon of 29th July the 87,865gt/2013 built APL Antwerp lost eight containers overboard at the Port of Virginia, USA.

Costamare has purchased two modern 5,000 TEU capacity containerships in a move that includes seven-year charters to Maersk Line. At the same time a recent order for five 12,690 TEU capacity vessels for Yang Ming Marine Transport was also confirmed. These five new ships will be chartered by Yang Ming for 10 years. The two ships (as yet unidentified) are expected to be delivered to the new owner by September.

CMA CGM has withdrawn its Iran services following the U.S administration’s decision to renew sanctions on businesses operating in the country. The company’s co-operation agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines allowing it to lease space on vessels, operate joint shipping lines and co-operate on the use of port terminals has also been suspended until the situation changes.

The French operator has also revamped its dedicated CIMEX 6 service linking Asia and the Middle East Gulf with a call at Umm Qasr replacing Bandar Abbas as from the Shanghai arrival of 6th August 2018. The overall changes mean the new rotation of: Shanghai-Ningbo-Taipei-Shekou-Tanjung Pelepas-Port Klang-Jebel Ali-Umm Qasr-Jebel Ali-Port Klang-Hong Kong-Shanghai. The first ship on the new schedule was the 69,246gt/1999 built Ever Useful (above). On 26th July China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) began the construction of CMA CGM’s 22,000 TEU containerships ordered in September 2017. The steel cutting ceremony was at Jiangnan Shipbuilding in Shanghai and marked the construction of two hulls that form part of the nine-strong series, the other ship being built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The newbuilds will be 400m long, 61.30m wide with a hull depth of 33.5m, making them the world’s largest containerships. The vessels will also feature WinGD’s dual-fuel low-speed engine (12-cylinder X92DF) and the world’s first GTT MK III membrane fuel tank with a capacity of 18,600cbm. Delivery is expected 2019/2020.

Diana Containerships Inc. extended the present time charter contract with CMA CGM for the 40,085gt/2001 built Panamax container vessel Domingo. The new charter period commenced on 3rd August 2018.

Hapag-Lloyd’s 153,148gt/2017 built and 15,000 TEU capacity Afif (above) was named by the Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani, on 16th July at London Gateway on the River Thames. The ship’s name means purity and honesty and is also a city in central Saudi Arabia. The Afif is one of 10 ULCVs built for United Arab Shipping Lines (UASC) during the year in which the company merged with Hapag-Lloyd. The ship sails on the FE4 service, also known as the Far East Loop, operating between European ports and Yantian, Shanghai, Busan and Ningbo.

Hyundai Merchant Marine introduced an 11,000 TEU capacity container ship on 5th July equipped with an SOx scrubber system to significantly reduce sulphur emissions. The company held a launch ceremony for the HMM Promise in Busan (above) and the scrubber system was retrofitted to the ship after she was initially delivered to HMM last August from Subic-based Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction in the Philippines. The move was made to comply with global environment protection standards that will go into effect in 2020. The 114,023gt/2018 built HMM Promise is the world’s first commercially operating container vessel of more than 11,000 TEUs equipped with a large scrubber system and her engine ensures optimal economic speed and performance to conserve. The new ship also represents the first large container ship delivered to HMM after its ownership transferred to the state-run Korea Development Bank in August 2016. Delivered on 26th June, the HMM Promise will cover routes to the eastern coast of South America while the 114,023gt HMM Blessing, delivered from the same shipyard on 30th June, made her debut a week later to the western coast of South America. The 317.33m long and 48.2m beam duo were originally ordered by Oceanbulk Container Carriers in 2014 but were transferred to HMM as part of a resale transaction in 2017.

Maersk Line moved two 2M alliance service calls to Liverpool for 12 weeks in July following continuing congestion problems at the Port of Felixstowe. The first vessels diverting to Liverpool were the 26,833gt/2004-built and 2,556 TEU capacity Cap Beatrice (above) on the COEX service and the 89,776gt/2006-built and 7,943 TEU capacity Archimidis on the TA2 service on 20th and 22nd July respectively. The move has come as a boost to Liverpool, which has been striving to attract container lines to its £400m deepwater Liverpool 2 container terminal since it opened in 2016. Liverpool 2 owner Peel Ports has long campaigned that it is an ideal export terminal, particularly for transatlantic cargoes, and the 2M alliance’s move is effectively providing a three month trial for the facilities. Following a restructuring of its North Atlantic services, 2M will be adding an extra service from the end of August and will also revise the three existing services to offer enhanced port coverage. The new rotations will include: NEUATL 1: Antwerp-Rotterdam-Bremerhaven-Norfolk-Charleston-Houston-Norfolk: NEUATL 2: Bremerhaven-Felixstowe-Antwerp-Le Havre-New York-Baltimore-Norfolk-Savannah-New York: NEUATL 3: Le Havre-Antwerp-Rotterdam-Bremerhaven-Charleston-Veracruz-Altamira-New Orleans-Mobile-Freeport: NEUATL 4: Antwerp-Rotterdam-Bremerhaven-Felixstowe-New York-Savannah-Port Everglades-Charleston. Naturally the Felixstowe calls will be replaced by Liverpool until reverting to the Suffolk port.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) announced in July that its 210,691gt/2017 built and 20,000-TEU capacity MOL Truth (above) had received the Ship of the Year 2017 award from the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE). The award is given for the highest levels of technology, design, and social responsibility among vessels made in Japan by JASNAOE. The MOL Truth, one of the world’s largest containerships, earned high evaluations as a cutting-edge eco ship that not only exemplifies MOL’s safe operation and environmental conservation policies, but also makes full use of the most advanced telecommunication technologies. In addition, the judges regarded her as an historic milestone in Japan’s shipbuilding industry because Imabari Shipbuilding adopted the latest technology and hull structure design, and because she was the largest containership ever built in Japan. The MOL Truth operates in the Asia-Europe network operated by Ocean Network Express (ONE).

MPC Container Ships has purchased an unidentified 2012-built and 1,740 TEU capacity containership. The announcement came on 19th July and MPC Container Ships ASA will rename her AS Selina. The ship was built at the Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China and will bring the company’s fleet up to 69 vessels.

Ocean Network Express (ONE), the merged container operations of Japanese shipping trio NYK Line, K Line and MOL, took delivery of a new magenta-coloured containership, the 154,000gt/2018 built and 14,000 TEU capacity ONE Minato (above), at the Hiroshima Shipyard of Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan on 24th July. The 365.9m long, 51.2m beam and 147,000dwt ultra-large containership is being deployed on EC4, the East Coast 4 service, sailing from Asia to the East Coast of the USA, under THE Alliance partnership. The port rotation is Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, via Suez to New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, New York then Singapore via Suez.

ONE, and other members of THE Alliance, announced on 6th July that the Trans Pacific-West Coast services were being revised and/or improved. This involved six services in Asia/ on the North American West Coast. The PS5 and PS8 services were combined in August after the 73,675gt/2010 built YM Mandate’s eastbound PS8 call at Prince Rupert on 8th August and the 90,449gt/2006 built Conti Crystal’s westbound PS5 call at Los Angeles on 24th August. The PS4 loop, Hong Kong-Yantian-Kaohsiung-Keelung-Los Angeles/Long Beach-Oakland-Keelung-Kaohsiung-Hong Kong was updated when the 76,787gt/2011 built YM Mutuality called at Hong Kong/Los Angeles on 4th/20th August on the east/westbound legs. The PS6 route of Ningbo-Shanghai (Waigaoqiao)-Pusan-Los Angeles/Long Beach-Oakland-Tokyo-Ningbo changed when the 98,747gt/2006 built Humber Bridge called at Ningbo/Los Angeles on 9th/27th August on the east/westbound legs. The Xiamen-Hong Kong-Yantian-Los Angeles/Long Beach-Oakland-Xiamen PS7 circuit was updated after the 113,042gt/2015 built MOL Beacon called at Xiamen on 2nd August (eastbound) and 21st August at Los Angeles (westbound). The first trading quarter of Ocean Network Express (ONE) recorded losses of $120m, with K-Line being worst hit. A less than smooth introduction of ONE was blamed.

OOCL announced in late June that various routes were being revised in August/September. The Pacific China North 1 (PCN1) will omit the call at Dalian, the Pacific Vietnam China South (PVCS) will omit the Shekou call from the 2nd September arrival and the Pacific North West 2 (PNW2) rotation will change from early/mid-September by linking in with the Middle East 1 (ME1) service to expand market coverage.

The Port of Antwerp saw a record container throughput of more than 1 million TEU in May that helped the port improve on a record first quarter to post a 6.5% increase in the total throughput to 118.6 million tonnes of freight in the first half. Container traffic rose 8.3% to 5.6 million TEU compared with the first six months of 2017.

Royal Arctic Line A/S of Greenland has awarded Norwegian ship designer Havyard Design & Solutions a contract for two new cargo vessels designed to transport temperature-controlled containers and general cargo in northwest Greenland. Royal Arctic Line, which is wholly-owned by the Government of Greenland and holds a monopoly over all seaborne freight shipped to and from and within Greenland. The two 67m long ships will be built at Zamakona Yards in Spain, will have a total cargo capacity of 60 containers or 500 pallets and are scheduled for delivery in 2020. The newbuilds are intended to replace the existing vessels Pajuttaat (1,171gt/1979) and Vestlandia (1,313gt/1983).

Samskip Iceland changed its UK port of call on 16th July, moving from Immingham to Hull. Samskip is Hull’s largest customer, transporting over 100,000 containers through the port, making it the company‘s second largest port after Rotterdam.