Maersk to add TEU capacity on eastbound trans-Pacific liner trades

Danish liner company Maersk Line, the world's largest container line, said last night that it will add eastbound trans-Pacific sailings, starting Sept. 15, to replace capacity removed from the market after the bankruptcy of Korean liner firm Hanjin Shipping Co.

The service, called TP1, will call at the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Yantian, and the Port of Busan in South Korea before sailing to the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, It will operate six vessels and will deploy about 4,000 twenty-foot equivalent units per week, Maersk said.

The new service will complement Maersk Line's existing trans-Pacific product portfolio, the liner said. It will be conducted as part of the 2M shipping alliance with Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world's second-largest operator by capacity.

Maersk said it was helping to offset the capacity shortage brought on Hanjin's Aug. 31 bankruptcy filing after lenders declined to accept the ailing carrier's reorganization plan. Hanjin accounted for about 8 percent of eastbound container capacity on the trans-Pacific.

"We are responding to increased demand in the Transpacific. With supply chains disrupted, many customers are approaching us for transport solutions for their cargo. The TP1 service is a stable, long term solution to meet our customers' needs," said Klaus Rud Sejling, head of Maersk's east-west network, in a statement.