Release Date: 19 November 2009
Release ID: 4393

Grand Alliance Announces Winter Program for US East Coast All Water Services

As practiced in previous years, Grand Alliance members Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), have announced a Winter Program for their US East Coast all water services.

The temporary service adjustments are intended to take effect from December 1st, 2009 and will last for around 18 weeks. The service changes have been made to ensure continuation of the service network by adjusting capacity to the seasonal demand of our customers.

The North & Central China East Coast Express (NCE) will provide enhanced coverage including a new call at Kingston. The Grand Alliance will provide seven 4,150 TEU vessels and ZIM will provide one 4,150 TEU vessel.

The new port rotation of the NCE will be as follows:
Pusan / Qingdao / Ningbo/ Shanghai / Panama / Kingston / New York / Norfolk / Savannah / Kingston / Panama / Pusan

The South China East Coast Express (SCE) service will be temporarily replaced by a combined service with the New York Express (NYX) service which is operated by The New World Alliance lines - APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL). In the newly combined loop, the Grand Alliance will provide three 3,800 TEU vessels out of 9 ships for 18 weeks.

The port rotation of the SCE during the Winter Program will be as follows:
Shanghai / Ningbo / Shekou / Yantian / Hong Kong / Kaohsiung / Panama Canal / Manzanillo / New York / Norfolk / Savannah / Jacksonville / Miami / Manzanillo / Panama Canal / Balboa / Yokohama / Pusan / Shanghai

The Grand Alliance, formed in 1998, is the leading integrated consortium in global container shipping. Its members are presently Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), MISC Berhad (Malaysia), NYK (Japan) and OOCL (Hong Kong). MISC does not operate on this trade and is therefore not mentioned in this agreement.