The OCEAN Alliance — comprised of CMA CGM, APL, OOCL, COSCO and Evergreen Line — is slated to blank several voyages in early October on the Asia-Europe trade in connection with China’s National Day holiday.
The founding of China is celebrated Oct. 1, kicking off a seven-day Golden Week festival. As a result, many businesses across the country shut down for the week, which often leads to carriers blanking sailings around this time.
OOCL said Loop 3 on the Asia-North Europe trade will withdraw a sailing in the first week of October (westbound ETA Ningbo Oct. 6, eastbound ETA Antwerp Nov. 9). OOCL also refers to the loop as the LL3, while it’s called FAL7 by CMA CGM, FX7 by APL, AEU7 by COSCO and NE7 by Evergreen, according to BlueWater Reporting. The loop deploys 11 vessels averaging 15,613 TEUs and has a rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Nansha, Shekou, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Piraeus, Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Zeebrugge, Piraeus, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ningbo.
Meanwhile, OOCL said Loop 4 on the Asia-North Europe trade will withdraw the sailing of the CMA CGM Zheng He (westbound ETA Xingang Oct. 4, eastbound ETA Southampton Nov. 11). BlueWater Reporting shows that OOCL also refers to the loop as LL4, while it’s dubbed FAL by CMA CGM, FX1 by APL, AEU2 by COSCO and FAL1 by Evergreen. The loop deploys 12 vessels averaging 17,815 TEUs and has a rotation of Xingang, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras, Southampton, Dunkirk, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Southampton, Le Havre, Khor Fakkan, Port Kelang, Xiamen and Xingang.
The WM1 will withdraw the sailing of the COSCO Netherlands (westbound ETA Qingdao Oct. 1, eastbound ETA La Spezia Nov. 2), according to OOCL. The loop also is referred to as NEWMEX2S by CMA CGM, MX2 by APL, AEM1 by COSCO and MD2 by Evergreen, as illustrated by BlueWater Reporting. The loop deploys 10 vessels averaging 13,350 TEUs and has a rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Piraeus, La Spezia, Genoa, Marseilles-Fos, Valencia, Piraeus, Jeddah, Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Qingdao.
OOCL also said the WM2 will withdraw the sailing of the CMA CGM Titan (westbound ETA Qingdao Oct. 2, eastbound ETA Valencia Nov. 6). BlueWater Reporting shows the loop also is referred to as MEX by CMA CGM, MX1 by APL, AEM2 by COSCO and MEX1 by Evergreen. The loop deploys 11 vessels averaging 11,570 TEUs and has a rotation of Qingdao, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Yantian, Singapore, Malta, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseilles-Fos, Genoa, Malta, Beirut, Jeddah, Dubai, Port Kelang, Xiamen and Qingdao.
The EM1 will withdraw the sailing of the CMA CGM Uruguay (westbound ETA Busan Oct. 7, eastbound ETA Istanbul Nov. 9), according to OOCL. The loop is referred to as BEX by CMA CGM, APL and Evergreen and AEM3 by COSCO. BlueWater Reporting shows the loop deploys 10 vessels averaging 9,446 TEUs and has a rotation of Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said, Beirut, Piraeus, Izmit, Ambarli, Constanza, Odessa, Ambarli, Mersin, Port Said, Jeddah, Port Kelang and Busan.
OOCL also said the EM2 will withdraw the sailing of the COSCO Thailand (westbound ETA Qingdao Oct. 11, eastbound ETA Ashdod Nov. 6). Although CMA CGM and APL do not participate on this loop, COSCO calls it the AEM5 and Evergreen refers to it as the FEM, according to BlueWater Reporting. The loop deploys nine vessels averaging 6,628 TEUs and has a rotation of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Taipei, Yantian, Shekou, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Ashdod, Haifa, Alexandria, Mersin, Piraeus, Jeddah, Tanjung Pelepas, Shekou, Kaohsiung and Qingdao.