Carriers invite Evergreen into Asia/Australia service

Evergreen will join the two Asia Australia Services (AAS) operated by four steamship lines -- APL, Hamburg Sud, Hapag-Lloyd and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Hamburg Sud said in a statement, Significant cost increases and very poor freight rates both south and northbound have made this step necessary.

   The carriers will offer two fixed-day weekly loops:

   The northern loop employs five 3,500-TEU ships on a rotation of Yokohama, Osaka, Pusan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama.

   The southern loop uses four 2,500-TEU ships in a rotation of Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Kaohsiung.

   Hamburg Sud provides three vessels, Hyundai Merchant Marine and APL two vessels each, and Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen one vessel each.

   The plan, subject to regulatory approvals, is for Evergreen to have fixed space allocations on the northern loop where it will provide a ship from the fourth week of October onwards and for Evergreen to begin purchasing slots on the southern loop at the same time. 

Source: American Shipper