UASC temporarily combines AEC1 & AEC2 services into one

UNITED Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has announced that it has temporarily combined its AEC1 and AEC2 services into one service - the AEC1.

A statement from the Dubai-headquartered ocean carrier said its former AEC1 service covered ports in Asia, the Arabian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, north Europe and the Red Sea, deploying 10 vessels of 4,000 TEU. Hanjin Shipping and its affiliate Senator Lines are said to have slot agreements already in place on this service.

Meanwhile, the former AEC2 service connected ports in Asia, North Europe, the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf and used nine 6,900-TEU ships.

The newly combined AEC1 service calls at ports in Asia, the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, north Europe and at the Med Hub. It now deploys a total of 10 vessels provided by UASC, comprising nine 6,900-TEU vessels and one 4,250-TEUer.

It will also transship sea freight to and from the Indian subcontinent by using feeder services, most of which will be operated by UASC.

The port rotation for the combined AEC1 service is: Busan, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Khor Fakhan, Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Med Hub, Rotterdam, Thamesport, Hamburg, Antwerp, Jeddah , Jebel Ali, Khor Fakhan, Singapore, Hong Kong, returning to Busan.

The company added that the temporary combination of the AEC1 and AEC2 services into one is scheduled to remain active until the third quarter of 2009, after which, UASC plans to recommence both its former AEC1 and AEC2 services.

A report by AXS-Alphaliner News said that one of the ten UASC-owned ships of 3,800 TEU, the Al Sabahia, that was used on the former AEC1 service, will be redeployed on Hanjin-Senator / UASC Asia-Mediterranean 'EMA / MEX' service, replacing a smaller 2,700 TEU ship.

It added that the port of call in the Chinese port of Xiamen on the AEC2 has been removed from the new port rotation for the temporarily combined AEC1 service. It said that in order to maintain direct sailings from Xiamen, co-loader Hanjin will add this stop to its Far East-Europe AEX loop, while the Kaohsiung port call has been dropped from the newly combined AEC1 service.

Source: Schednet