Hamburg: Hamburg Süd and Maersk Line have announced that they plan to continue operating their joint Asia to South Africa - South America East Coast Service (ASAS/NGX) in spite of the impending withdrawal of their current partner, NYK Line, in April. Following the dissolution of the existing contract, the ASAS/NGX service will operate using 10 newbuildings of the Monte Class with a 5,500teu capacity of 5500 that have been specifically designed for the Latin American trades.
The new vessels will be phased in over a period of eight months during which the lines will complement the service with additional smaller vessels to ensure the requisite weekly frequency and adequate capacity.
They will call at: Nagoya - Yokohama - Pusan - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Singapore - Tanjun Pelapas - Durban - Sepetiba - Santos - Buenos Aires - Rio Grande - Itajai/Sao Francisco do Sul - Paranagua - Santos - Port Elizabeth - Durban - Singapore - Hong Kong - Nagoya.
Other ports in Asia and South America East Coast will be covered in transhipment by either dedicated feeder services or connecting to the Lines' existing service.
Last week NYK Line announced that it would begin operating a competing service, New Horizon Express (NHX), on the same route in conjunction with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) upon termination of its current three-way contract. The weekly NHX service will be operate 10 containerships of 2,500teu each on the port rotation: Shanghai - Ningbo - Hong Kong - Singapore - Durban - Santos - Buenos Aires - Itajai - Paranagua - Santos - Itaguai (Sepetiba) - Singapore - Hong Kong - Shanghai. Other main ports in Asia will be covered by feeder connections. [15/01/08]
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