Senator Lines to boost Asia/Med slots

Germany's Senator Lines will next month double its slot capacity on a weekly Asia/Mediterranean service operated by Yang Ming.

The Bremen-based carrier will increase its allocation on the service with the westbound departure of the YM Bamboo from Shanghai on June 6.

The service -- marketed by Senator Lines as the New Mediterranean Express (NMX) and by Yang Ming as Asia-Med Express (AME) -- uses seven 5,512-TEU ships on a rotation of Genoa, Leghorn, Fos, Port Said, Jeddah, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Said and Genoa.

Senator Lines also recently increased its slots on the joint Mediterranean Express (MEX) service of its majority owner Hanjin Shipping and United Arab Shipping Co.

Senator Lines doesn't publish its exact TEU slot allocations, but a spokesperson did say that it would have several hundred TEU on both the NMX and MEX services.

The doubling of our capacity on the MEX and now also on the NMX service complies with our intention to grow and to constantly increase our market share, said Hans-Hermann Mohr, chief executive officer of Senator Lines.

Mark Ehlers, director operational management, said: The NMX as well as the MEX are services most in demand with our customers since they are directly interlinking the strong-growth markets of the Far East with the Mediterranean.

Source: American Shipper