In a move which could also see the largest ships currently in service call at US ports, the Ocean Alliance has announced that it is planning to deploy container ships of 18,000 TEU on the trans-Pacific trade from April, 2017, according to JOC.com.
This follows news that the Ocean Alliance was planning the ‘most expansive’ all-water trans-Pacific service by deploying ships of at least 14,000 TEU to the US East and Gulf Coast’s ports.
CMA CGM, member of the Ocean Alliance, recently announced that it had cancelled plans to deploy five more ships to the US, as a result of poor market conditions.
The most recent alliance tie-up was between Maersk, MSC, and Hyundai Merchant Marine, who recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to join the current largest alliance.
Currently, Maersk and MSC have more than 5.8 million TEU of fleet capacity when resources are combined, with Maersk leading firmly with almost 3.2 million.
Initially, the Ocean Alliance will cover more than 40 services globally, which are mostly connected with Asia.
The alliance will begin operations in April, 2017 and will last for an initial five years.
