Container shipping companies are ready to do anything to stem the current drop in spot freight rates and offset a demand that continues to be sluggish, even taking drastic action on their capacity management.
This is what Hapag-Lloyd, One, Yang Ming and HMM have decided to do. The carriers in ‘The Alliance’ group have announced that from next October they will be discontinuing their PN3 service connecting Asia to the west coast of North America.
The service currently operates on the following route: Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Busan, Vancouver, Tacoma, Busan, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong from October 2023. Seven ships are employed on a weekly basis, with capacities ranging from 8500 to 11,700 TEUs.
With the suspension of the service, 3% of the capacity currently used on the Far East-US west coast trade route will be removed.
At the same time, The Alliance has decided to revise its PN2 service, which will be going to more ports. The rotation will be as follows: Singapore – Laem Chabang – Cai Mep – Haiphong – Yantian – Yangshan (new port of call) – Pusan (new port of call) – Vancouver – Tacoma – Tokyo – Kobe – Kaohsiung (new) – Hong Kong (new) – Singapore.
Translation by Giles Foster
