SIMIC

TAIWAN's Wan Hai Lines is combining its two transpacific US east coast services and bringing Hapag-Lloyd ships into the newly revamped service that will drop Philadelphia, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.
The change comes as Wan Hai's second-in-command said weekly container capacity will be much less volatile in 2023 than it was over the previous two years.
In a vessel-sharing agreement filed with the Federal Maritime Commission, Wan Hai and Hapag-Lloyd said they plan to deploy eight and four ships, respectively, in the AA7 service from Asia. Hapag-Lloyd had previously just been a space charterer on the AA7, which Wan Hai introduced in mid-2021.
The two also plan to upsize the service with vessels that range from 7,500 to 11,500 TEU capacity. The AA7's current schedule shows the string utilising ships ranging between 4,250 and 7,240 TEU.
The first AA7 voyage from Shanghai under the new agreement is set to take place close to April 26, the filing said. In addition to the AA7's existing load ports in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore, the service will also call at Sri Lanka.
Along with the load port changes, the AA7 will add the Port of Charleston to its US east coast rotation, along with existing calls at New York and New Jersey, Norfolk and Savannah.
Charleston and the Port of Philadelphia were previously served by Wan Hai's AA9 service, which debuted in mid-2022. The Charleston service will be folded into the AA7 service.
"The [AA9] was operated with smaller vessel capacity," he said. "We have essentially merged these two services under an improved AA7 coverage and vessel size."
Speaking at the Journal of Commerce's TPM23 conference in Long Beach, Wan Hai vice chairman Randy Chen said weekly container capacity to the US saw unprecedented volatility during 2021 to 2022 due to the demand shock caused by the pandemic.
Mr Chen said capacity swings turned into a vicious cycle as carriers sent more ships into the transpacific to meet demand, resulting in further port congestion. But he said that a more regular ordering cycle for overseas goods will allow carriers to better plan weekly capacity.