Two More Giant Container Ships Enter Service Whilst Asian Box Freight Cooperative Announces Routes

WORLDWIDE – With all the various vessel sharing agreements, box line alliances and newbuild container ships news at the moment, the day hardly passes without further announcements of changes to existing services. French giant CMA CGM has brought two more ships on line this week whilst the five Asian members of the CKYHE Alliance have revealed their revised and reorganised service network for the Asia-North Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades in 2015.

First to France where CMA CGM saw the CMA CGM Loire and the CMA CGM Ural enter service in the past few days. Both built to the now obligatory high environmental standards demanded these days with the latest environmental technologies to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption whilst scrubbing ballast water to a degree fit to bath the baby in, the two river series ships are 300 metres long with a 48 metre beam with the Loire having a nominal capacity of 9,365 TEUs against the 10,622 which the Ural can manage.

Both ships have 1458 x 40 foot reefer plugs which CMA CGM says shows its dedication to gaining a larger share of the temperature controlled market. The Loire is sailing on the Bosphorus Express (BEX) service calling at Dalian, Tianjin, Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Izmit, Istambul Ambarli, Constanza, Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Port Said, Port Kelang, Singapore, and Dalian.

The Ural is serving on the Mediterranean Club Express (MEX) loop where she will call Shanghai, Ningbao, Yantian, Chiwan, Port Kelang, Malta, Valencia, Barcelona, Fos sur Mer, Malta, Salalah, Port Kelang, Xiamen, and Shanghai.

The CKYHE Alliance; COSCON, K Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin and Evergreen, will provide six Asia-North Europe services (NE2/NE3/NE5-CEM/NE6/NE7/NE8-CES) and three Asia-Mediterranean services (MD1/MD2/ADR) with the optimum port coverage throughout Asia, North Europe, East Mediterranean, West Mediterranean and Adriatic region from early April of 2015. Detals of the revised services as follows:

Asia-North Europe service:

NE2 (10 @ 14,000 TEU vessels): Nansha-Kaohsiung-Yantian-Singapore-Piraeus-Rotterdam-Felixstowe-Hamburg-Antwerp-Piraeus-Singapore-Hong Kong-Nansha.

NE3 (11 @ 13,000 TEU vessels): Xingang-Dalian-Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo-Singapore-Rotterdam-Hamburg-Antwerp-Shanghai-Xingang.

NE5 (10 @ 14,000 TEU vessels): (Evergreen Line names as CEM) Shanghai-Ningbo-Yantian-Tanjung Pelepas-Rotterdam-Felixstowe-Hamburg-Rotterdam-Tanjung Pelepas-Kaohsiung-Shanghai.

NE6 (11 @ 13,000 TEU vessels): Qingdao-Kwangyang-Pusan-Shanghai-Yantian-Singapore-Algeciras-Hamburg-Rotterdam-Le Havre-Algeciras-Singapore-Yantian-Qingdao.

NE7 (10 @ 14,000 TEU vessels): Ningbo-Shanghai-Xiamen-Singapore-Piraeus-Hamburg-Rotterdam-Felixstowe -Antwerp-Piraeus-Ningbo.

NE8 (10 @ 8,500 TEU vessels): (Evergreen Line names as CES) Taipei-Ningbo-Shanghai-Shekou-Colombo-Felixstowe-Hamburg-Rotterdam-Le Havre-Colombo-Taipei.

Asia-Mediterranean Service:

MD1 Pendulum service (16 @ 10,000 TEU vessels): Pusan-Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo- Yantian- Hong Kong-Nansha-Singapore-Piraeus-La Spezia-Genoa-Barcelona-Valencia-Piraeus-Singapore-Vung Tau-Hong Kong-Shanghai-Pusan- (USA) -Pusan.

MD2 (10 @ 8,500 TEU vessels): Xiamen-Ningbo-Shanghai-Kaohsiung-Yantian-Singapore-Port Said-Ashdod-Genoa-Barcelona-FOS-Port Said-Singapore-Hong Kong-Xiamen.

ADR (10 @ 8,500 TEU vessels): Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo-Taipei-Shekou-Yantian-Tanjung-Pelepas-Ashdod- Alexandra-Piraeus-Koper-Trieste-Piraeus-Jeddah-Colombo-Tanjung Pelepas-Shekou-Kaohsiung-Qingdao.

Photo: The CMA CGM Loire begins her life in service.