ZIM and the 2M Alliance of Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) plan to cooperate on four more services - two on routes between East Asia and the Pacific northwest and two between ports in Asia and the Mediterranean.
The service changes are expected to come into effect in March, pending approval by the US Federal Maritime Commission and other regulators.
The deal follows a cooperation agreement the three companies unveiled last summer that commenced in September on services between Asia and the US east coast, American Shipper reported.
'Having successfully implemented our strategic cooperation, we are very pleased to expand the partnership with ZIM into additional geographies,' said AP Moller-Maersk chief operating officer Soren Toft.
'This agreement delivers mutual benefits to both parties. For Maersk it provides operational efficiencies that will enable our continued drive to deliver competitive and reliable products for our customers in the world's most comprehensive east-west network.'
'This is a major strategic step, upgrading ZIM's competitiveness,' said Zim chief executive officer Eli Glickman. 'We are very proud to team up with the two largest players in the industry and to expand our cooperation with the 2M Alliance. The new strategic agreement means faster and more efficient service with better geographic coverage and extended direct port calls.'
ZIM said the agreement will involve vessel sharing, slot exchanges and purchases.
In the Pacific northwest ZIM will provide four of the seven ships for what is now Maersk's TP9/MSC's Maple service. ZIM will call it the ZIM Pacific Pollux (ZP9) service. Currently Maersk operates all seven ships in the string.
Maersk said: 'Part of the ZIM slots on the TP9 will be swapped for access to slots on the fully 2M operated TP8 service. There will be no schedule changes to the TP8 and TP9 services.
'Between Asia and the Mediterranean, ZIM gets access to 2M slots on the AE12 and AE15 services. There will be no changes to the AE12 and AE15 schedules, which were announced in December 2018 as part of a network upgrade to further improve Maersk schedule reliability between Asia and Europe/Mediterranean. Those changes are to start on westbound sailings in March 2019.'
The port rotations of the four services are as follows: ZIM Pacific Pollux (ZP9): Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Vancouver, Seattle, Yokohama, Busan, Kaohsiung.
ZIM Pacific Procyon (ZP8): Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Busan, Yokohama, Prince Rupert, and back to Xingang.
Sirius Line (ZAS): Xingang, Dalian, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said East, Haifa, Port Said East, Singapore, returning to Xingang.
Spica Line (ZMS): Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said East, Yarimca, Istanbul, Asyaport, Piraeus, Singapore, Shekou, Pusan.
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The service changes are expected to come into effect in March, pending approval by the US Federal Maritime Commission and other regulators.
The deal follows a cooperation agreement the three companies unveiled last summer that commenced in September on services between Asia and the US east coast, American Shipper reported.
'Having successfully implemented our strategic cooperation, we are very pleased to expand the partnership with ZIM into additional geographies,' said AP Moller-Maersk chief operating officer Soren Toft.
'This agreement delivers mutual benefits to both parties. For Maersk it provides operational efficiencies that will enable our continued drive to deliver competitive and reliable products for our customers in the world's most comprehensive east-west network.'
'This is a major strategic step, upgrading ZIM's competitiveness,' said Zim chief executive officer Eli Glickman. 'We are very proud to team up with the two largest players in the industry and to expand our cooperation with the 2M Alliance. The new strategic agreement means faster and more efficient service with better geographic coverage and extended direct port calls.'
ZIM said the agreement will involve vessel sharing, slot exchanges and purchases.
In the Pacific northwest ZIM will provide four of the seven ships for what is now Maersk's TP9/MSC's Maple service. ZIM will call it the ZIM Pacific Pollux (ZP9) service. Currently Maersk operates all seven ships in the string.
Maersk said: 'Part of the ZIM slots on the TP9 will be swapped for access to slots on the fully 2M operated TP8 service. There will be no schedule changes to the TP8 and TP9 services.
'Between Asia and the Mediterranean, ZIM gets access to 2M slots on the AE12 and AE15 services. There will be no changes to the AE12 and AE15 schedules, which were announced in December 2018 as part of a network upgrade to further improve Maersk schedule reliability between Asia and Europe/Mediterranean. Those changes are to start on westbound sailings in March 2019.'
The port rotations of the four services are as follows: ZIM Pacific Pollux (ZP9): Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Vancouver, Seattle, Yokohama, Busan, Kaohsiung.
ZIM Pacific Procyon (ZP8): Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Busan, Yokohama, Prince Rupert, and back to Xingang.
Sirius Line (ZAS): Xingang, Dalian, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said East, Haifa, Port Said East, Singapore, returning to Xingang.
Spica Line (ZMS): Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said East, Yarimca, Istanbul, Asyaport, Piraeus, Singapore, Shekou, Pusan.
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