MAERSK has suspended an Asia-US east coast loop, confirming that transpacific ocean carriers are seeing a reduction in bookings to North American ports on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, reports London’s Loadstar.
The carrier announced the last sailing of its TP28 pendulum service would be performed by the 4,447-TEU Merkur Archipelago from Vung Tau, Vietnam October 13.
The loop will then be merged into Maersk’s TP20 pendulum service, with a revised rotation of Jakarta, Vung Tau, Shanghai, Ningbo, Busan, Panama Canal, Mobile, Newark, and back Jakarta via the Suez. The first sailing will be the 4,658-TEU maersk Kentucky on October 16.
The termination follows the suspensions of the 2M’s /Sequoia loop, Matson’s CCX service, CU Lines’ TPX and unconfirmed reports that CMA CGM was halting its Golden Gate Bridge service.
