The Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) announced on July 5 the suspension of its Asia-Mediterranean service, citing the “unfavorable economic environment” in the trade lane.
CSAV, a Chile-based shipping company that is among the largest in Latin America, said the last west-bound sailing of the Mare Nostrum service will be by the vessel RHL Felicitas, which will depart from Xingang, China, on July 6.
The Green Alliance, formerly the CKYH alliance, a consortium composed of Hanjin Shipping, Cosco, K Line, and Yang Ming, has also dropped its NE5 service from July 3 amid plunging freight rates on the Asia-Europe trade.
Janet Lewis, regional head of industrials and shipping research in Asia at Macquarie Capital Securities, said the scheduled delivery this year of ultra large containerships of more than 10,000 twenty foot unit capacity is the key reason for the nosedive of rates in the Asia-Europe lane.
