Wan Hai Lines is now offering a solo Far East-US West Coast service after Pacific International Lines (PIL) withdrew from the Transpacific trade.
The China Pacific Service 1 (CP1) was launched on 2 July, with the 4,680TEU Wan Hai 515 departing Shanghai and reaching Long Beach on 25 July. Wan Hai 515 was followed by a chartered vessel, the 6,008TEU ER London, which left Shanghai on 29 July.
The subsequent sailings will be in mid-August, when two other chartered vessels, the 4,943TEU Texas Trader and 6,612TEU Cap Andreas, will be deployed.
The Taiwanese liner operator, which is primarily active in intra-Asia lanes, used to operate this service through a vessel-sharing agreement with PIL and COSCO Shipping Lines (COSCON). Following PIL’s departure from the Transpacific trade earlier this year, Wan Hai purchased slots from COSCON, through the PSW2 service run by the Ocean Alliance, but has now decided to launch its own service with the deployed vessels arriving later this month.
The port rotation of CP1 is Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo and Long Beach.
Container shipping consultancy Sea-Intelligence noted that the traditional peak season began in July, with capacity growth on the Transpacific 7.2% year-on-year, suggesting carriers have become optimistic about rising demand.
Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy said, “On Asia-US West Coast, carriers have un-blanked 30 previously announced blank sailings for Q3. Of these 30, 22 were un-blanked by THE Alliance.” He added indicating, “That THE Alliance blanked capacity too aggressively and have dialled it down keeping it in line with the other alliances.”
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
