|
February 22, 2002
TNWA Confirms its New Asia-Europe Service
Changes
Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo - February 22, 2002
- The New World Alliance (TNWA), which consists
of APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), confirmed today
its updated roster of Asia-Europe services,
reflecting its efforts to manage capacity
and meet customers' needs in line with the
current operating environment.
The Alliance is upgrading three of its services:
the Japan-Europe Express (JEX), the Asia-Europe
Express (AEX) and the China-Europe Express
(CEX). In addition, TNWA has selected a new
Mediterranean port hub in Gioia Tauro for
its new Mediterranean coverage and will withdraw
the New China-Europe Express (NEX) and the
existing Mediterranean dedicated service
(MED).
The moves are part of the Alliance's ongoing
efforts to provide capacity based on current
market demand.
"We have seen the sluggish market in
the Asia-Europe trades. As a result, we are
making the adjustments of service on the
NEX and the MED to meet the requirements
of the market, but we will ensure to maintain
our full scope of service coverage as in
the past with the improved services such
as transit time using TNWA's enhanced weekly
strings that sail between Asia and Europe/Mediterranean,"
said JH Lee, Managing Director of HMM (Europe).
The JEX will be upgraded with new larger
and faster ships to cover its Mediterranean
hub port in both directions, and Hong Kong
on its eastbound leg as an additional port
of call. Five new 6,000 TEU vessels from
MOL will be deployed on the JEX service.
The Asia-Europe Express (AEX) will also call
on Gioia Tauro on its westbound leg to enhance
the service quality of its Asia-Mediterranean
link. As earlier reported, the CEX was upgraded
this January with the replacement of two
faster and larger APL ships. A Xiamen port
call was also added to the CEX to meet the
growing needs of the China market.
"It is important for us to adjust our
services in all of our trades and respond
to changing needs promptly in order to provide
the right service to our customers in the
long term. We are very excited by introducing
five new ships to the JEX service. This enables
us to provide one of the most competitive
services in the trade," said Chris Bourne,
Managing Director of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
(Europe).
The Alliance's selection of Gioia Tauro,
Italy as its Mediterranean hub port will
ensure even shorter transit times. The Alliance
is in the process of finalizing its Mediterranean
feeder service coverage, which will be announced
in the coming weeks.
The Alliance confirmed today that the New
China-Europe Express (NEX) service, which
has been a fortnightly service since last
October, will be withdrawn effective immediately.
The dedicated Mediterranean service (MED)
which has been operating in conjunction with
Yang Ming Line, will be withdrawn at the
end of March.
"Asia-Europe has shown continued growth
over the years, and we expect the volumes
to come back. But for now, TNWA will have
taken out approximately 20 percent of its
capacity. Our strategy is to refine when
the volumes return," said Kenneth Glenn,
APL vice president, Asia-Europe trade. He
added, "Our customers will not benefit
from us having surplus capacity and costs
at this time."
TNWA's new service structure of Asia-Europe
will consist of three upgraded loops starting
from end-March, 2002. The port rotation and
schedule of each loop is as follows.
JEX: Kobe (Tue) - Nagoya (Wed) - Tokyo (Thu-Fri)
- Hong Kong (Mon) - Yantian (Tue) - Singapore
(Fri-Sat) - Gioia Tauro (Wed) - Rotterdam
(Sun-Tue) - Hamburg (Tue-Thu) - Southampton
(Fri-Sat) - Le Havre (Sat-Sun) - Gioia Tauro
(Thu) - Singapore (Tue-Wed) - Hong Kong (Sat)
- Kobe (Tue)
AEX: Hakata (Sat) - Kwanyang (Sat-Sun) - Pusan
(Sun-Mon) - Kaohsiung (Wed-Thu) - Hong Kong
(Fri) - Singapore (Mon) - Port Kelang (Tue)
- Gioia Tauro (Sat) - Le Havre (Wed-Thu)
- Rotterdam (Fri-Sat) - Hamburg (Sun-Mon)
- Southampton (Tue-Wed) - Colombo (Wed) -
Singapore (Sat-Sun) - Hong Kong (Tue-Wed)
- Kaohsiung (Wed-Thu) - Hakata (Sat)
CEX: Shanghai (Wed-Fri) - Xiamen (Sat-Sun) - Yantian
(Mon) - Hong Kong (Mon-Tue) - Singapore (Fri-Sat)
- Colombo (Mon-Tue) - Southampton (Mon-Tue)
- Antwerp (Wed-Thu) - Bremerhaven (Thu-Fri)
- Rotterdam (Sat-Sun) - Aden (Wed) - Singapore
(Thu-Fri) - Hong Kong (Sun-Mon) - Shanghai
(Wed)
The New World Alliance operates dedicated
Asia-Europe, Transpacific, and Transatlantic
services, coordinating some 80 containerships
in these major container trades.
- End -
|