Evergreen Line and the CKYH Alliance announced they will establish an operational alliance to cooperate on the Asia-Europe trades.
Taiwan’s Evergreen Line will make up the fifth carrier in the CKYH Alliance consisting of China’s Cosco, Japanese liner Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Taiwan-based Yangming Marine, and South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping.
The new consortium will be formally launched on March 1, 2014 upon complying with relevant regulations, and will be called CKYHE Alliance.
The group will begin operations in mid-April with six joint services on the Asia-Northern Europe lane and four loops on the Asia-Mediterranean route. The inclusion of Evergreen will boost the group’s service offering and enable the carriers to compete with the planned P3 Alliance of the world’s top three global box ships Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., and CMA CGM.
“The members of CKYHE have agreed to continuously review services on the Asia-Northern Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades in order to optimize their efficiency and to enhance their service quality in terms of network coverage,” the carriers announced on February 20 in a joint release. “The lines’ customers will benefit from a better quality of service in terms of transit times and service frequency.”
Operational efficiencies will also strengthen the alliance members’ effective environmental stewardship, the statement continued.
“The lines have a commitment to cleaner shipping, which they understand their customers value highly. The alliance will continue to pursue measures to minimize bunker consumption via ‘eco-slow steaming’ and to reduce CO2 emissions.”
Meanwhile, United Arab Shipping Co. (UASC), the Middle East’s largest container line, is also said to be negotiating to join the CKYH group. If UASC is accepted into the consortium, it is like that China Shipping Container Lines, which has been collaborating closely with UASC in recent years, will follow in its ally’s footsteps.
Photo: Julie, Dave & Family
