The long waiting period cannot be restored, Maersk and MSC cut Asia-US services and no longer call at US West ports!
Yesterday Souhang.com reported that due to congestion and delays in U.S. ports, some importers were forced to spend twice the freight to transfer some seasonal or popular products to air. The latest information is that in the face of congestion that has not been alleviated for a long time, shipping companies have to adopt New measures have been adopted.
Due to delays caused by congestion, in order to improve the reliability of shipping schedules, the 2M alliance Maersk and MSC will cut two trans-Pacific services to avoid congestion at US West Coast ports.
Beginning this week, 2M will switch from the Asia-US AE1/Shogun and AE6/Lion loop lines to Northern Europe, instead of linking to the US West.
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Shipping company announcement
In addition, in order to adjust the service network, 2M said it will cancel the AE55/Griffin service sailing from Asia to Northern Europe next week.
The Port of Rotterdam, which was originally scheduled to call on the AE55 route in week 11, will be replaced by the AE5 and AE6 routes, the Port of Antwerp will be replaced by the AE6 route, and the Port of Fristol will be replaced by the AE1 and AE7 routes.
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Maersk said that the decision to suspend these services is a response to the "recently unprecedented market situation, severe port congestion and container restrictions in the global supply chain".
It is reported that ships arriving at the container hubs in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Southern California, often have to moor in San Pedro Bay and wait for up to two weeks, thus failing to resume shipping schedules. Maersk said that it has considered this change. Reliability is of the utmost importance".
According to the latest data from the Port of Los Angeles signal platform, the volume of incoming containers this week is expected to reach 141,200 TEU, an increase of 387.73% over the same period last year. Next week, the volume in the 11th week will drop slightly to 133,900 TEU, but the volume in the 12th week Continue to rise to 140,000 TEU.
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In addition, there are 16 container ships berthed at anchorages, and 8 container ships waiting to be anchored outside the port, which is a decrease from the previous period. But the average waiting time for berth increased to 7.7 days.
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A UK-based non-vessel carrier (NVOCC) stated that 2M’s move was not notified in advance, and that “their schedule has been fragmented.” Another shipper said that he believes that the changes in the 2M route network may be "more freight related" because the current spot freight from Asia to Northern Europe is twice that of the West Coast of the United States.
Simon Sundboell, founder and CEO of eeSea, believes that 2M's decision to cut two loop services makes sense. Shipping companies seem to be improving the industry’s poor shipping schedule reliability. However, he said, “This is not a problem that can be solved easily.” The long-term congestion at the US West Port “does not seem to be alleviated and is affecting the entire shipping system.”
"As for whether THE Alliance will follow the example of 2M and do the same for the FP1 and FP2 loops?" He said, "Although the ME4/PSW8 of the Ocean Alliance and the AACI loop of COSCO will enter the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent instead of Europe, they may Will also be considered."
In the past month or two, other shipping companies have announced several new trans-Pacific route services that neither call Los Angeles nor Long Beach.
Zim’s newly launched ZX2 expedited trans-Pacific route will call at the Port of Tacoma. The new route will start operations in mid-March, with the order of the ports of call: Lin Chaban, Gaimei Port, Yantian, Los Angeles, Tacoma, and then back to Lin Chaban.
From mid-March, Wanhai Shipping will increase the existing two trans-Pacific routes to four, including the new Pacific Northwest route from North Asia to Seattle and Oakland, which will completely ignore Southern California.
CMA CGM launched the new Golden Gate Bridge service, which no longer calls the Port of Los Angeles, and goes directly to the Port of Oakland from Asia. The ports of call are: Shanghai, Yantian, Oakland, Seattle, Kaohsiung and Shanghai.
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According to the National Retail Federation (National Retail Federation) forecast, as retailers import a large number of goods to meet consumer demand, 2021 may achieve record retail sales growth. It is estimated that retail sales in 2021 will increase by 6.5% to 8.2% over last year, totaling US$4.33 trillion to US$4.4 trillion.
In addition, it is estimated that in the first half of 2021, the volume of imported containers in the United States will reach 11.7 million TEUs, an increase of 23.3% over the same period in 2020. In 2020, the total import volume was 22 million TEUs, an increase of 1.9% from the 21.6 million TEUs in 2019, breaking the record of 21.8 million TEUs set in 2018.
