APL announced on 31st October the enhancement of its Asia- Subcontinent network with the Asia Subcontinent Express 6 (AS6) and Asia Subcontinent Express 7 (AS7) services. The AS6 service will call at Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Port Klang, Nhava Sheva, Karachi (SAPT) and Singapore once more before returning to Shanghai. The first sailing of the AS6 was scheduled to depart from Shanghai on 15th November. The AS7 service was due to commence from Shanghai on 14th November with calls at Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Shekou, Singapore, Port Klang, Colombo, Karachi (KICT), Karachi (PICT) and Mundra before revisiting Port Klang, Singapore and Shanghai.

Containerships announced on 1st November that a second service will call at London Thamesport from Gdynia, Poland. The service offers regular and fast connections with Poland, with improved transit times from Gdynia of 3-4 days and 4-6 days for the return journey.

CMA CGM’s third and final 20,600 TEU capacity newbuild, the 217,673gt/2018 built Louis Bleriot (above), was delivered in October by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, Philippines. The 400m long and 59m beam ship was named after Louis Charles Joseph Blériot, the French aviator, inventor and engineer. Her two sisterships, CMA CGM Jean Mermoz and CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery, were delivered in January and May 2018. The company announced on 26th October that it was planning to reshuffle its Mediterranean-Middle East Gulf-Indian Subcontinent services, MEDEX, MEGEM and INDIAMED as from Week 46 from the Middle East. The trio of services employ a total of 21 vessels. The MEDEX route employs 8 vessels making 17 calls on a 56-day rotation, namely Jebel Ali-Karachi-Nhava Sheva- Mundra-Jeddah-Malta-La Spezia-Genoa-Valencia-Barcelona-Fos- Genoa-Malta-Damietta-Aqaba-Jeddah-Hamad-Jebel Ali. The revised service commenced on 10th November with the 88,493gt/2002 built Ningbo Express. The MEGEM service employs 6 vessels making 15 calls on a 42-day rotation, namely Jebel Ali- Hamad-Dammam-Jubail-Jebel Ali-Jeddah-Port Said West-Mersin- Piraeus-Izmir-Ambarli-Aliaga-Iskenderun-Damietta-Jedda-Jebel Ali. The new port sequence commenced on 30th October from Jebel Ali care of the 70,704gt/2015 built UASC Yas. Finally, the INDIAMED route uses 7 ships making 14 calls on a 49-day rotation. The ports served are Jebel Ali- Hamad-Jubail-Jebel Ali-Mundra- Nhava Sheva-Colombo-Port Said West-Mersin-Piraeus-Ambarli- Mersin-Iskenderun-Jebel Ali. The first ship to undertake this circuit was the 95,390gt/2013 built MSC Alghero, calling at Jebel Ali on 16th November. On 31st October the CMA CGM Group completed the acquisition of Finland-based container-transportation and logistics company Containerships. Founded in 1966, Containerships specialises in Intra-European containerised trade with 690 employees. The announcement followed the go-ahead for the merger from the European Commission on 22nd October. The transaction includes four 1,400 TEU capacity vessels powered by LNG. These vessels will be followed from 2020 onwards by the nine 22,000 TEU and two 1,400 TEU capacity containerships ordered by the CMA CGM Group.

COSCO Shipping’s 215,553gt and 21,000 TEU capacity containership COSCO Shipping Nebula was named and delivered on 23rd October at Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. The giant vessel is 400m long with a beam of 58.6m, a moulded depth of 33.5m, a maximum draught of 16m and a design speed of 22 knots. The ship’s maximum deadweight is 198,000t and the maximum capacity is 21,237 TEU. The ship will serve on the Far East-Northwest Europe loop (AEU3).

Hapag-Lloyd is to convert the LNG-ready 195,636gt/2015 built Barzan from the acquired UASC fleet and fit scrubbers to two further vessels as it analyses options besides using low sulphur fuel for complying with the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap. Hapag-Lloyd acquired a total of 17 LNG-ready containerships when it merged with UASC. The 15,000 teu and 18,800 TEU capacity vessels delivered between 2014 and 2016 were seen at the time as acting as a catalyst for the use of LNG as marine fuel, with the Middle East based line exploring LNG bunkering options with Qatar and Shell.

Maersk Line is switching the 171,542gt/2007 built/17,816 TEU capacity Eleonora Maersk and 171,542gt/2008 built/17,816 TEU capacity Eugen Maersk onto the TP-6/Pearl Service, operated with MSC. They will replace the 141,754gt/2013 built/13,102 TEU capacity Maersk Ensenada and 141,716gt/2010 built/13,568 TEU capacity Maersk Essen.

Matson, the U.S based container carrier, took delivery of the first of two new Aloha Class containerships built at the Philly Shipyard on 31st October. The 49,000gt/2018 built and 3,600 TEU capacity newbuild, named Daniel K. Inouye (after an American Politician), is the largest containership built in the U.S.A to date and will operate on Matson’s Hawaii service. The ship embarked on her 5,298-mile, 13 day maiden voyage to Oakland, California via the Panama Canal on 7th November before entering commercial service on 22nd November. After a call at Long Beach, the new vessel made her first call at Honolulu on 28th November.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Hapag-Lloyd have concluded a Bilateral Strategic Feeder Network Co-operation Agreement, which has already started via a new Intra-Asia service, the Bohai Feeder (BHX) back in August and then introduced a new Intra- Europe service, the North Sea Poland Express (NPX), in mid- October to enhance their existing feeder network. The co-operation covers specific Intra-Europe (BAX, NBS, NPX, REX, SDX, ADX, LEX) and Intra-Asia (BHX, HAS, PID) feeder trade lanes. The collaboration aims to provide the market with a superior feeder network with both parties sharing space on their feeder services. The new look ONE ship livery of magenta provided a splash of colour to Northern European ports in October in the shape of the 88,089gt/2008 built, 320.37m long and 8,102 TEU capacity ONE Continuity (above), formerly the MOL Continuity. The ship visited Hamburg on 26th October and Southampton two days later as she is deployed on ONE’s FE1 – Far East-Europe 1 liner service, linking Hamburg weekly with the Japanese ports of Kobe, Nagoya, Shimizu and Tokyo. Additional ports served on a weekly basis by FE1 are Singapore, Jeddah, Southampton, Le Havre and Rotterdam.