Maersk joins HMM Asia to US west coast loop in slot swap

MAERSK Line has announced a service - the TP3 - that will provide additional direct coverage from East China and Korea into the US Pacific Southwest.

This is an existing service owned and operated by Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM). Allocation has been granted to Maersk via a slot swap.

On the eastbound rotation there is service out of Kwangyang plus increased Shanghai and Busan coverage into the Pacific southwest. For the westbound, there is greater coverage into Korea plus a second direct call into Shanghai from the Pacific Southwest.

The first sailing of the TP3 on the eastbound rotation departs from Shanghai (Wai Gao Qiao) on Tuesday July 10. The westbound rotation departs from Long Beach on Wednesday July 25.

Eastbound, the TP3 rotates through Shanghai, Kwangyang, Busan and Long Beach. Westbound it calls at Long Beach, Busan, Kwangyang and Shanghai.

As a result, existing Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Yantian calls will be dropped from the TP7 eastbound rotation. This will result in improved transit times out of South East Asia, said the Maersk statement.

The first sailing of the revised TP7 on the eastbound rotation departs from Laem Chabang on Monday, July 9. The westbound rotation departs from Los Angeles on Monday, July 30, rotating through Laem Chabang, Vung Tau, Kaohsiung, Busan, Los Angeles and Oakland eastbound and Los Angeles, Oakland, Busan, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong and Laem Chabang eastbound.