Hamburg Sud cuts capacity from May in service restructuring

HAMBURG SUD has announced that it is restructuring its Trident Service to bring reduced costs in response to changing market conditions starting in May.

There will be reductions in capacity in line with the sharp decline in volume, said a company statement.

Cargo to and from Europe - Australia-New Zealand will be served through the well established hub port in Cartagena, Colombia with transshipment connections to and from three weekly north Europe services.

Apart from the increased frequency and fast transit times, the new concept will enlarge Hamburg Sud's European port coverage with the following ports: Rotterdam, Tilbury, Hamburg, Antwerp and Le Havre.

The transhipment service has been specifically configured so that allocations for the Australia-New Zealand-north Europe cargo are guaranteed and have priority.

The position that Hamburg Sud has built with its clients in the transatlantic trade will continue to be served by a stand alone service deploying four vessels. The operation will continue uninterrupted by retaining the ports covered in the Trident Service, enhanced by an additional call in New York.

The rotation will be as follows: Tilbury, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Philadelphia, New York, Savannah and back to Tilbury.

Midwest inland destinations will be serviced through either Philadelphia or New York providing the fastest and most cost-efficient intermodal connections westbound from Europe.

The US east coast-Australia-New Zealand trade will continue to be covered through an end to end service operated jointly with Maersk Line, employing nine vessels each with a nominal capacity of 2,800 TEU and a reefer plug capacity of 530 plugs.

Calls to Cartagena, Colombia, will be added southbound and northbound to link the connecting feeder services into the US Gulf, US east coast, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and now Europe, said the company.

The new port rotation will be: Philadelphia, Savannah, Cartagena, Colombia; Balboa, Panama; Auckland; Sydney; Melbourne; Timaru, New Zealand; Port Chalmers, New Zealand; Napier, New Zealand; Tauranga, New Zealand, Auckland; Manzanillo, Panama; Cartagena and Philadelphia.

Source: CRIEnglish