The member lines of the Grand Alliance, Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK and OOCL, have decided to suspend their EU5 Service between Europe and Asia with immediate effect. The weekly service has been operated by eight vessels with an average capacity of 3,300 TEU. Ports of call have been Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Singapore and back to Shanghai with a round voyage time of 56 days. The suspension is preliminary fixed until June 2009.
This service change is in response to the global economic slowdown that has led to reduced customer demand. However, the Grand Alliance is still offering a variety of services between Europe and the Far East covering all major port pairs with weekly sailings. Customers currently using the EU5 service have several alternative options, as the mentioned ports are amongst others covered by EU3 and EU4.
The Grand Alliance, formed in 1998, is an integrated consortium in global container shipping.
(www.hapag-lloyd.com)