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Shipping lines flock to Southampton
[ February 5, 2015 // Chris ]The Ocean Three shipping alliance will make its first call at DP World Southampton (DPWS) on Monday 9 February.This will be followed shortly by a new service operated by the 2M alliance of the world’s two largest shipping lines, on Tuesday 17 February.
The 16,020teu CMA-CGM Marco Polo, already the largest vessel to call regularly at Southampton, will arrive aofficially as part of the new Ocean Three shipping alliance between CMA CGM, United Arab Shipping Company (UASC and China Shipping Container Lines. Ocean Three will have two services at Southampton, replacing two existing CMA CGM services, still to be called the FAL1 and the FAL3.
China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), who has been traditionally a customer of the Port of Felixstowe, will be taking slots on the CMA CGM services into Southampton.
The 2M alliance, between Maersk Line and MSC will make its maiden call on 17 February with the 9,600 TEU Susan Maersk, having added DP World Southampton as a new port of call. The new service will be called ‘Condor’ by MSC and ‘AE9’ by Maersk Line. It will initially deploy vessels of between 9,500 and 12,500 TEU. For Maersk Line it will mean a return to Southampton as a vessel provider, after an absence of nearly five years while for MSC it is a continuation of the service that has historically been offered on CMA CGM’s FAL1 and FAL3 services.
Commenting on the new alliances, Chris Lewis, Managing Director, DP World Southampton, said: “The emergence of these big shipping alliances now brings bigger ships with even bigger discharges which still need fast, flexible and reliable services. DP World Southampton has continued to keep pace with the changing shape of the shipping industry. We’ve got the infrastructure, a new berth and deep-water access, as well as a proven track record for fast and reliable productivity.”
DPWS opened its new deep water berth – capable of handling the largest ships afloat and under construction in March 2014.
Tags: 2M, DP World, Ocean Threee, Southapton