EUROGATE announced earlier today that six further container shipping lines will call at Wilhelmshaven from April 2017. The newly established shipping alliance OCEAN Alliance (COSCO Shipping, OOCL, CMA CGM, Evergreen) is to include EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven in its schedules.
Furthermore, as a result of forthcoming operational changes, both Hamburg Süd and Hyundai Merchant Marine will extend their offering to include Wilhelmshaven. Due to the re-formation of the alliances as a result of the intensifying consolidation process on the part of the shipping lines, the industry is currently undergoing a process of change on an unprecedented scale. Given the ever larger vessels operating the services between Asia and Northern Europe, it is especially gratifying that so many shipping lines have meanwhile come to recognise the nautical advantages offered by Wilhelmshaven.
EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven is located at Germany’s only deep-water port and offers mega container ships with a draught of up to 16.5 metres unrestricted nautical access, independently of the tide. Initially, OCEAN Alliance will call at Wilhelmshaven once a week with some of the world’s largest container vessels (> 18,000 TEUs) operating its “Asia–North Europe 1” scheduled service. With this, Wilhelmshaven is expanding its offer in particular for export shipments to Asia. Subsequently, through their recently initiated operational cooperation with Maersk Line and the 2M Alliance, Hamburg Süd and Hyundai Merchant Marine will start operating services via Wilhelmshaven from April. The six further shipping lines in Wilhelmshaven will significantly extend and complement the existing Maersk Line services.
The 2M Alliance has been calling at Wilhelmshaven since it was formed in early 2015. In 2016, EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven increased its container handling volume by 13 per cent compared to the previous year. Parallel to this, there was an increase in transports by road (+65%) and by rail (+38%) to the seaport hinterland.
Michael Blach, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board, says: “We are delighted that with OCEAN Alliance we have attracted four additional shipping lines – COSCO Shipping, CMA CGM, OOCL and Evergreen – to Wilhelmshaven. This is a significant success that we have worked long and hard to achieve. The fact that two of the three major shipping alliances will visit Germany’s only deep-water port from spring 2017 will give Wilhelmshaven a new growth spurt – also with respect to the portfolio of additional transport and logistics services.”
Source: Eurogate