Grand Alliance steps up frequency, capacity of Asia-Europe loop D

THE Grand Alliance that groups together Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL and NYK has recommenced weekly sailings of its Asia-Europe loop D service, after reducing the frequency of the service to twice weekly from last October until the end of February to reduce capacity during the slack winter season.


The port rotation for loop D is: Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen-Shekou, Shenzhen-Yantian, Singapore, Southampton, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Singapore, Shanghai and back to Busan.


The loop is said to operate with 11 containerships each with an average capacity of 5,814 TEU, according to ComPair Data. However, when the service was reduced to a twice weekly loop it only used five vessels.


"Before the change in October, the service was operated with 10 ships, with OOCL providing five ships, NYK three and Hapag-Lloyd two," a report by American Shipper said.


It said a port of call at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam will be added to loop D, from March 23. According to Hapag-Lloyd the transit times from Ho Chi Minh City to Southampton will be 22 days, 24 days to Le Havre, 26 days to Hamburg and 28 days to Rotterdam.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)