For the trans-Pacific route with strong demand and "good harvest", Maersk launched two new services, and shipping companies such as Wanhai and HMM also added additional services

It is reported that Maersk will launch two new weekly services on the Trans-Pacific route in August, TPX and TP20. These two services will be exclusively operated by Maersk.

The company said that as congestion continues to curb capacity, these services are launched to cater to the "coming peak season" to help contract customers achieve network normalization.

It seems intentional to target the lucrative high-end market. Two new independent services-one from Asia to the West Coast of the United States and the other from Asia to the East Coast:

The new weekly trans-Pacific West Coast route-TPX-will call ports including: Yantian (ICT), Ningbo (J4) and Los Angeles (APMT Pier 400). Mainly deploy 3,500 teu ships.

The new weekly trans-Pacific East Coast route-TP20-will call at Vung Tau (Gemalink), Ningbo (J4), Shanghai (Yangshan), Norfolk (VIG, USA) and Baltimore (Seagirt, USA). The main deployment is 4,500 TEU ships.

According to a report last week, berthing delays in Los Angeles and Long Beach have been reduced from a high of more than 30 ships to 10 ships waiting for berths in San Pedro Bay.

Maersk stated that the addition of TPX and TP20 services will not result in changes to the existing network, and the exact start date "will be announced in due course." The beginning of the service will also comply with all applicable regulatory compliance requirements.

In addition, shipping companies such as Wanhai, HMM, and Zim have added additional services on the trans-Pacific route. As consumer demand is still strong, this route is expected to usher in a peak season of "better harvest".

In order to meet the market space requirements, Wanhai Shipping launched a new route AA2/AA3/AA5 in South China in March, directly to the west coast ports of the United States. All routes are composed of 3000-6000TEU boats.

Subsequently, Wanhai continued to expand its Asia-America network, launching a new weekly service AA7 between Asia and the east coast of North America on June 8. The service will be operated by 10 container ships with a capacity of 2,800 TEU ~ 4,000 TEU. The rotation ports of the route are: Taipei-Xiamen-Shekou-CAIMEP-New York-Savannah-Taipei.

HMM has transferred a 7,000TEU container ship HMM Jakarta from the East Asia-India route to the temporary trans-Pacific route, from Busan to Long Beach, and is expected to arrive at Tacoma Port on July 10. Since August last year, the shipping company has completed 25 additional temporary loading services from Busan, 15 times to Los Angeles/Long Beach, and 5 times to the East Coast of the United States.

According to previous reports, the freight for 40-foot containers on trans-Pacific routes is as high as US$20,000 or even higher, which has prompted container shipping companies to invest all available ships in it. Due to the high freight rates, even for small vessels, shipping companies can obtain extremely lucrative profits despite the substantial increase in rent and fuel costs.

Taking into account the economic benefits, additional services will only meet the demand for high-quality goods, so they will not help contract customers who see container dumps every week.

Maersk stated that it is committed to long-term contract business, but the benefits from the short-term market may not be as good as some competitors, which may be the reason behind the introduction of these two niche cycles. However, in a chartering market that has actually been "sold out", where will the additional two ships be obtained, Maersk did not respond.

For Maersk, another option for acquiring additional ships is to redeploy some of its 700 ships on less profitable routes to the trans-Pacific region.

According to eeSea data, the average capacity of ships deployed by 2M in the trans-Pacific region is 10,029 teu.