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Two liner carrier services have joined the recent trend of slow steaming by adding a vessel to their respective services without increasing the frequency of the services, according to research from American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
One service is the New World Alliance’s APX, a long line loop that first connects Asia to the U.S. East Coast, then acts as a transatlantic loop, before hitting U.S. West Coast ports on the way back to Asia. The number of vessels operating on the service, according to ComPair Data, has been increased from 12 to 13 while keeping to its weekly call frequency.
MOL provides seven ships and APL six, with an average vessel size on the service of 4,713 TEUs. Aside from New World member Hyundai Merchant Marine, CMA CGM and Maersk Line buy slots on the service. CMA CGM calls it the Liberty service, while Maersk dubs the transatlantic portion TA1.
The other service is the Grand Alliance's and Zim’s PNX service, connecting Southeast Asia, South China and Busan with U.S. Pacific Northwest ports. The service now operates with seven ships instead of six, keeping to a weekly frequency, with Zim providing four post-Panamax vessels (the biggest ships in its fleet) and OOCL providing three smaller vessels. Average vessel size on the service is 7,360 TEUs.
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