REDUCED European demand has prompted the world's biggest container shipping company Maersk to cut capacity 10 per cent on its Bossa Nova service, operating between east coast of South America, north Europe and Mediterranean ports.
"Weakening demand has led to substantial open capacity and resulted in a need to adjust our network to match the changing market forces. Capacity and reefer plugs were adjusted to more accurately match market demands," said Maersk.
The company said it will put smaller ships with capacity of between 4,500 and 6,500 TEU into the string, replacing ships that have a capacity of 9,000 TEU, American Shipper reported.
According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the service is operated in a vessel sharing agreement with Maersk's 2M alliance partner MSC, which calls the loop Mediterranean/South America east coast.
The service previously operated with six MSC ships with an average capacity of 8,373 TEU, but Maersk's two 4,258-TEU vessels deployed recently will drop average capacity to 6,977 TEU, a decrease of 17 per cent.
Maersk subsidiary Safmarine and Ocean Three member UASC also take slots on the loop, which has a rotation of: Valencia, Tangiers, Salvador, Porto Itapoa, Paranagua, Itajai, Navegantes, Santos, Las Palmas, Algeciras and back to Tangiers.
The carrier said the change to the Bossa Nova service "will provide a more efficient operation in line with today's market demand."
It offers one other service between Europe and the Mediterranean and east coast South America with eight of its own vessels on the Samba loop.
MSC takes slots on the service along with subsidiary line Safmarine, CKYHE Alliance members Cosco and Hanjin Shipping, as well as Alianca and its parent line Hamburg Sud.
The Samba has a port rotation of: Rotterdam, Tilbury, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Algeciras, Santos, Paranagua, Itajai, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Santos, Pecem, Algeciras and back to Rotterdam.
The carrier also purchases space on three other services in the trade: MSC's North Europe-east coast of South America SAEC1 loop, Hamburg Sud's River Plate service from North Europe to the east coast of South America, and the joint Mediterranean-ECSA MESA from MSC, Hamburg Sud and Alianca.