The Port of Hamburg will not lose any cargo by the transfer of the Ocean Alliance NEU 5 service to Antwerp, said Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing, noting that such liner service adjustments are absolutely normal when the shipping alliances develop new products.
From April, the Ocean Alliance NEU 5 service, currently handled by Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg – CTH, is being transferred to Antwerp.
The Ocean Alliance Partner, CMA CGM, will handle this service with an approximate annual volume of 150,000 TEU, the port informed.
According to CMA CGM, the five Ocean Alliance liner services continuing to call in Hamburg will handle the entire container volume carried until now to and from Hamburg.
In the course of optimizing annual planning, the resulting transfer of one of the six services creates no overall problem either for the shippers or the Port of Hamburg. The container cargo will continue to be handled in its entirety by these services in Hamburg. In the shipping industry such liner service adjustments are absolutely normal when the shipping alliances develop new products and present no cause for concern. Hamburg is not losing any cargo because of it,
…stated Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
As explained, the transfer of the FAL 3 service is a decision by the Alliance partners to optimize ships’ voyages within the context of its global service network.
CMA CGM shipping line also points out that the container cargo handled until now by this service in Hamburg will be distributed among the other five Asia-Europe services continuing to call Hamburg.
Meanwhile, a shortfall in container cargo is not to be expected, the port explained.
With the ‘Ocean Alliance Day 4’ product starting in April, transport capacities and voyage times will even be improved.
Meanwhile, Danish shipping giant Maersk has also reported a change to its sailing schedule.
The ME 1 service that until now has weekly served India via Dubai and Saudi-Arabia with the German ports: Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven will, as of February, temporarily not be calling Hamburg.
However, container cargo previously carried on ME 1 can continue to be seamlessly handled on MAERSK’s AE 7 service to and from Hamburg.
We assume that with Hamburg served by the AE 7 service, the majority of containers from the ME 1 service will continue to be handled in Hamburg after the fairway adjustment. The 12 mega-containerships deployed in the AE 7 service with a capacity of between 16,500 and 19,500 TEU offer the necessary transport capacity,
…explained Ingo Egloff, who is Axel Mattern’s Joint CEO at Port of Hamburg Marketing.
After suspending the ME 1 service, MAERSK will be calling Hamburg with a total of five container-liner services.
