South Korea's Hanjin Shipping announced on Thursday (Mar 17) that it will remove two 13,000 teu containerships on its Asia to North Europe lane starting April, as part of efforts to cut operation cost.

The restructured NE6 (Asia-North Europe 6) service will have nine 13,000 teu boxships instead of the current 11, and port calls will be rearranged to allow shorter transit time, save operation cost and enhance efficiency. The changes will kick in on 3 April.

Hanjin Shipping to remove two 13,000 teu boxships from Asia-Europe lane

“It will also allow even faster cargo transhipment to West and North Africa through Algeciras as well as shorter transit time from northern Europe to Asia,” Hanjin Shipping commented.

The NE6 port rotation is Busan, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Algeciras, Singapore, Yantian and back to Busan.

In addition, its jointly-run PM1 (Pacific-Med Pendulum 1) will be replaced by the shipowner's new HPM (Hanjin Pacific Mediterranean Pendulum) service to connect the US West Coast, Asia and Mediterranean.

This HPM route will be served fifteen 10,000 teu containerships and the service will commence on 6 April.

“As such, Hanjin Shipping intends to improve business profitability by providing exclusive services to areas with great potential for market growth,” Hanjin Shipping said.

“Through this restructuring, we are confident that we will provide more stable, swift and higher quality service to our customers and that we will also contribute to enhancing CKYHE Alliance’s service competitiveness,” it added.

Source: Seatrade Global