SEOUL, SINGAPORE, TOKYO - The New World Alliance (TNWA), which consists of APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), confirmed today its updated roster of Asia-Europe services, reflecting its efforts to manage capacity and meet customers' needs in line with the current operating environment.
The Alliance is upgrading three of its services: the Japan-Europe Express (JEX), the Asia-Europe Express (AEX) and the China-Europe Express (CEX). In addition, TNWA has selected a new Mediterranean port hub in Gioia Tauro for its new Mediterranean coverage and will withdraw the New China-Europe Express (NEX) and the existing Mediterranean dedicated service (MED).
The moves are part of the Alliance's ongoing efforts to provide capacity based on current market demand.
"We have seen the sluggish market in the Asia-Europe trades. As a result, we are making the adjustments of service on the NEX and the MED to meet the requirements of the market, but we will ensure to maintain our full scope of service coverage as in the past with the improved services such as transit time using TNWA's enhanced weekly strings that sail between Asia and Europe/Mediterranean," said JH Lee, Managing Director of HMM (Europe).
The JEX will be upgraded with new larger and faster ships to cover its Mediterranean hub port in both directions, and Hong Kong on its eastbound leg as an additional port of call. Five new 6,000 TEU vessels from MOL will be deployed on the JEX service. The Asia-Europe Express (AEX) will also call on Gioia Tauro on its westbound leg to enhance the service quality of its Asia-Mediterranean link. As earlier reported, the CEX was upgraded this January with the replacement of two faster and larger APL ships. A Xiamen port call was also added to the CEX to meet the growing needs of the China market.
"It is important for us to adjust our services in all of our trades and respond to changing needs promptly in order to provide the right service to our customers in the long term. We are very excited by introducing five new ships to the JEX service. This enables us to provide one of the most competitive services in the trade," said Chris Bourne, Managing Director of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (Europe).
The Alliance's selection of Gioia Tauro, Italy as its Mediterranean hub port will ensure even shorter transit times. The Alliance is in the process of finalizing its Mediterranean feeder service coverage, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Alliance confirmed today that the New China-Europe Express (NEX) service, which has been a fortnightly service since last October, will be withdrawn effective immediately. The dedicated Mediterranean service (MED) which has been operating in conjunction with Yang Ming Line, will be withdrawn at the end of March.
"Asia-Europe has shown continued growth over the years, and we expect the volumes to come back. But for now, TNWA will have taken out approximately 20 percent of its capacity. Our strategy is to refine when the volumes return," said Kenneth Glenn, APL vice president, Asia-Europe trade. He added, "Our customers will not benefit from us having surplus capacity and costs at this time."
TNWA's new service structure of Asia-Europe will consist of three upgraded loops starting from end-March, 2002. The port rotation and schedule of each loop is as follows.
JEX: Kobe (Tue) - Nagoya (Wed) - Tokyo (Thu-Fri) - Hong Kong (Mon) - Yantian (Tue) - Singapore (Fri-Sat) - Gioia Tauro (Wed) - Rotterdam (Sun-Tue) - Hamburg (Tue-Thu) - Southampton (Fri-Sat) - Le Havre (Sat-Sun) - Gioia Tauro (Thu) - Singapore (Tue-Wed) - Hong Kong (Sat) - Kobe (Tue)
AEX: Hakata (Sat) - Kwanyang (Sat-Sun) - Pusan (Sun-Mon) - Kaohsiung (Wed-Thu) - Hong Kong (Fri) - Singapore (Mon) - Port Kelang (Tue) - Gioia Tauro (Sat) - Le Havre (Wed-Thu) - Rotterdam (Fri-Sat) - Hamburg (Sun-Mon) - Southampton (Tue-Wed) - Colombo (Wed) - Singapore (Sat-Sun) - Hong Kong (Tue-Wed) - Kaohsiung (Wed-Thu) - Hakata (Sat)
CEX: Shanghai (Wed-Fri) - Xiamen (Sat-Sun) - Yantian (Mon) - Hong Kong (Mon-Tue) - Singapore (Fri-Sat) - Colombo (Mon-Tue) - Southampton (Mon-Tue) - Antwerp (Wed-Thu) - Bremerhaven (Thu-Fri) - Rotterdam (Sat-Sun) - Aden (Wed) - Singapore (Thu-Fri) - Hong Kong (Sun-Mon) - Shanghai (Wed)
The New World Alliance operates dedicated Asia-Europe, Transpacific, and Transatlantic services, coordinating some 80 containerships in these major container trades.
Media Contact: Mr. Noboru Kitazawa, MOL, Tokyo, 81-3-3587-6645