Hanjin Shipping, PIL engage in slot swap on Red Sea/Middle East services

Hanjin Shipping, PIL engage in slot swap on Red Sea/Middle East services HANJIN Shipping is to exit the Far East-Red Sea RES service that it jointly operates with CMA CGM, Yang Ming, UASC and Cosco. Instead, the South Korean carrier will co-load on the REX/RSS service operated jointly by APL and PIL that is due to be upsized from deploying 6,500-TEU vessels to those in the 8,500-TEU size range, reported Alphaliner. The new arrangement appears to come within a slot exchange with PIL, through which PIL will participate in two of Hanjin Shipping's Far East-Middle East loops. Like the current RES service, the RSS covers the Upper Red Sea ports of Ain Sokhna and Aqaba on top of Jeddah. The REX/RSS service calls at Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou-Nansha, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Singapore, Djibouti, Jeddah, Ain Sokhna, Aqaba, Djibouti, Singapore, Guangzhou- and back to Shanghai.  The service turns in eight weeks, currently using eight vessels of 6,300-6,600 TEU. On its side, PIL is to revise its Far East-Middle East Gulf offer further to the closure of the Far East-Middle East Gulf weekly service offered jointly by Yang Ming, Cosco, PIL and Wan Hai (branded respectively as CG 2/MEX 2/CM 2/CMS 2). As an alternative, PIL will offer two weekly loops through slots on Hanjin Shipping's Far East-Middle East Express (FMX) and on the Far East-Middle East segment of Hanjin's Pacific South & Gulf (PSG) service that is jointly operated with NYK.