Six Carriers Join Forces to Enhance Med-USEC Service

Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, and Yang Ming have entered a strategic cooperation with CMA CGM, COSCO, OOCL to enhance their Mediterranean-US East Coast service.

Under the agreement, the parties said they would improve their AL6 (Atlantic 6) service “to deliver a more efficient and comprehensive service quality.”

The upgraded service is consolidating the AL6 service, which is operated by Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, and Yang Ming, and the Amerigo service, operated by COSCO, CMA CGM, OOCL, into one larger loop with a deployment of six 8,000-TEU vessels.

Three of these ships belong to Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming, while the remaining five would be deployed by CMA CGM and OOCL.

The newly designed port rotation for the service will be La Spezia – Genoa – Fos – Barcelona – Valencia – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Miami – Algeciras – La Spezia.

Livorno will be excluded from the Mediterranean – US East Coast Service, however, Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, and Yang Ming will offer Livorno on a redesigned ZIM-operated AL7 service, which is part of the continuing cooperation between THE Alliance and ZIM.

The partnership with CMA CGM, COSCO and OOCL is slated to begin in December 2018 and subject to regulatory approval.