Shipping lines suspend Asia - US East Coast

CMA CGM, Maersk and (Hyundai Merchant Marine) HMM will suspend their China, Korea, US East Coast service via Panama after the departure on September 27th, 2009 of the last eastbound vessel from Ningbo.

This joint decision allows CMA CGM, Maersk and HMM to rationalize existing services and capacity to meet market needs.

This loop operated by 8 x 5,100 TEU vessels, named the Hudson service by CMA CGM, was calling ports such as Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Pusan, Balboa, Savannah, New York and Miami.

The future coverage of these ports will be done through existing services already operated either independently by CMA CGM or in a venture with partners such as the Columbus service.

?his rationalization of port coverage and slot supply corresponds to the actual demand trend observed on the Asia / US market since the beginning of 2009. Suspension of services is, in our mind, a temporary move. We are fairly confident that the North America trade will rebound in the near future,explained Jean-Philippe Thenoz, CMA CGM Vice President North America Lines. <Korea Shipping Gazette>