The Ocean 3 alliance partners United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), China Shipping Container Lines, and CMA CGM are canceling a dozen trips on the Asia-Europe lane from late June to mid-September 2015.
The move comes amid reports of slowing trade and plummeting freight rates on this key lane.
UASC in a release said it is announcing in advance the structural blank sailing program planned over the next few months “to help enhance customer supply chain integrity in light of recent uncertain times.”
The carrier said the new program—effective from week 27 to week 38 for a total of 12 sailings—“is engineered to provide early notice prior to implementation to help customers plan ahead” and removes the need for “costly ad hoc operational solutions.”
The program also provides alternative services to minimize the impact of void sailings on main ports. Moreover, it supports UASC’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions per TEU, said the company.
The blank sailings will affect the Asia-Europe Container Service 8 (AEC8) and Asia-Europe Container Service 7 (AEC7), and require changes to the port calls of the Asia-Europe Container Service 2 (AEC2).
In the AEC8, there will be five blank sailings: June 29 (week 27), July 13 (week 29), August 3 (week 32), August 24 (week 35), and September 7 (week 37).
The new service rotation will be Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Port Klang, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Jeddah, Port Klang, Chiwan, and Ningbo.
The alternative service during the blanking weeks is AEC7, said UASC.
In the AEC7, there will be seven blank sailings. These will take place on July 6 (week 28), July 20 (week 30), July 27 (week 31), August 10 (week 33), August 17 (week 34), August 31 (week 36), and September 14 (week 38).
The new rotation is Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chiwan, Yantian, Port Klang, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Jeddah, Port Klang, and Ningbo.
The alternative service during blanking weeks is AEC8.
While the AEC1, AEC4, and AEC9 services in UASC’s Asia-Europe network will remain unchanged, the AEC2 will be modified to complement the revised AEC7 and AEC8 sailing schedule so as not to have any major impact on UASC’s main port calls.
The new rotation of the AEC2 is Tianjin, Dalian, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Port Klang, Algeciras, Southampton, Dunkirk, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta, Khor Fakkan, Yantian, and Tianjin.
The effective period is from week 26 (June 24) onwards.
Photo: Sabas88
