Hanjin Collapse: Shippers Look to Fill Gaps
Global shipping giants are now trying to fill the void left by South Korea's Hanjin Shipping. According to Nikkei, Global shipping heavyweights are rushing to open new lines on the trans-Pacific route, seeking to fill the gaps left by Hanjin.
Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) - announced earlier this week that they would each deploy six container ships from next week to meet rising demand for the route. CMA CGM has also added a sailing with Sept. 22 to 27 loadings at the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, and Yantian to Long Beach.
Nikkei says that Maersk, the world's largest shipper by capacity, said it will introduce a new service between Asia and the west coast of the U.S. in response to the changing market situation on trans-Pacific trade, and to complement its existing portfolio on this route.
"We are responding to increased demand in the transpacific," said Klaus Rud Sejling, head of Maersk's East-West network, in a statement.
Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company also announced it would introduce a new service, which it is calling 'Maple', to ship container goods between Busan, Shanghai, Yantian and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada. The service will be made up of six vessels with a capacity of 5,000 TEU.
