Grand Alliance ties up Europe/Asia string

Grand Alliance member lines Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK and OOCL said they have decided to suspend their EU5 Service between Europe and Asia.

   The change, effective immediately, is in response to the global economic slowdown that has led to reduced customer demand, said a press statement. Preliminary plans are that the suspension will last until June.

   The change will remove eight vessels with an average capacity of 3,300 TEUs. The ships had been deployed in a 56-day rotation, which offered weekly calls in a port rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Singapore and Shanghai.

   The Grand Alliance noted it still offers a variety of services between Europe and the Far East covering all major port pairs with weekly sailings. Customers that used the EU5 service have several alternative options, and the same ports are covered by its EU3 and EU4 strings.

Source: American Shipper