Grand, New World shipping lines create new Far East-Europe alliance

Six leading container shipping lines last week agreed to create one of the largest vessel networks in the Far East-to-Europe trade lane.  

The comprehensive agreement will bring together members of Grand and The New World alliances to create The G6 Alliance. Grand Alliance members are Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Hapag-Lloyd AG, and Orient Overseas Container Line. New World Alliance members are APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and Mitsui O.S.K Lines.  

The new partnership will create one of the leading networks in the Far East-to-Europe and Far East-to-Mediterranean container shipping markets with more than 90 ships in nine services calling at more than 40 ports in Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean.

The integrated cooperation of these six lines will enable product and service features to be easily adjusted to market requirements.

 “This is a milestone agreement that significantly improves service coverage in the Asia-Europe market,” member carriers said in a statement, adding, “We will offer sailing frequencies and direct coverage that compete with anyone in the market.”

The new alliance is scheduled to begin operation by April 2012 with seven joint services operating between Asia and Europe and two services to the Mediterranean. It includes a direct Far East-Baltic service with calls at Gdansk, Poland and Gothenburg, Sweden as well as trans-shipment in Singapore.

Member carriers said the new alliance will be characterized by fast transit times, broad port coverage and the latest vessels, with capacities of up to 14,000 TEU.

The new alliance will enable the most efficient integration of the largest ship sizes that will be introduced over the next 30 months.

The nine joint services will offer more frequent departures with daily sailings from the major Asian, European and Mediterranean ports.  The schedule will include multiple weekly calls at Singapore, South China, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Hong Kong Shanghai and Southampton.

The ports of call also include Le Havre, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Thamesport, the Bohai Bay ports of Dalian and Xingang, Ningbo, Qingdao, Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Cai Mep, Japanese ports, Colombo, Jeddah, and Port Said.

 “The extensive port coverage, frequent sailings and very attractive transit times make the nine services a unique product with the best and most comprehensive set of connections on offer for all shippers in the Far East-Europe/Mediterranean trade,” members of the new alliance said.  

The base-plan port rotation of the nine loops is as follows.  Plans are subject to change based on changing market conditions.Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha is one of the world’s leading transportation companies. At the end of March 2011, the NYK Group was operating 827 major ocean vessels, as well as fleets of planes, trains, and trucks. The company’s shipping fleet includes 143 containerships, 344 bulk carriers, 57 wood-chip carriers, 118 car carriers, 86 tankers, 29 LNG carriers, three cruise ships, and 47 other ships. NYK’s revenue in fiscal 2010 was about $22 billion, and as a group NYK employs about 54,000 people worldwide. NYK is based in Tokyo and has regional headquarters in London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, and Sao Paulo. NYK is represented in Sri Lanka by NYK Line Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.