Capacity on the Far East – South America West Coast route is set to increase by 18 percent from April, compared to the same period in 2017, data from Alphaliner shows.
The increase in capacity is expected mainly due to a new service line-up on the Far East – WCSA route, which was unveiled last week.
All container liner services in the Far East – WCSA trade will be revamped in April, with the total weekly capacity expected to increase by some 15 percent against current capacity and by 18 percent compared to the same time last year. Total weekly capacity on the trade would reach 84,000 TEU in April, up from 71,000 TEU seen in the same period in 2017.
As of April, a fleet of 105 container ships, with a combined capacity of about 893,999 TEU, is to be deployed on ten ‘new’ Far East – WCSA services. These will replace the current set-up of nine loops, staffed by a total of 95 ships with a combined capacity of 775,800 TEU.
The Far East – WCSA service revamps are part of the requirements imposed by Chinese and Korean competition authorities as conditions related to Maersk’s acquisition of Hamburg Süd in November 2017. Hamburg Süd was required to terminate vessel sharing agreements (VSA) on a number of routes, of which the Far East – WCSA trade is the first to be executed.
Alphaliner informed that the carrier’s departure from various vessel sharing agreements triggered a string of changes in carrier partnerships, with three new groupings to emerge after all the restructuring.