Hamburg Süd, Maersk Line, and NYK announced that they have reached agreement to operate jointly in the trade between Asia, South Africa, and South America.

The lines will as from mid April onwards, replace the presently operated three strings (one operated by Maersk Line and two operated by Hamburg Süd and NYK) by two strings. The overall capacity produced by the new two string system is roughly the same as the capacity presently provided by the three Lines.

The rotation of the new service will be as follows:

String 1 operated with 10 x 3,500 TEU vessels of which Hamburg Süd will provide six and Maersk Line four: Shanghai – Hong Kong – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Sepetiba – Santos – Buenos Aires – Rio Grande – Paranagua – Santos – Port Elizabeth – Durban – Singapore – Hong Kong – Shanghai

String 2 operated with 10 x 2,500 TEU vessels of which NYK will provide six, Maersk Line three and Hamburg Süd one: Nagoya – Yokohama – Pusan – Hong Kong – Laem Chabang – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Durban – Santos – Itajai – Santos – Sepetiba – Singapore – Hong Kong – Nagoya.

The new services will combine an extensive scope of direct calls with fast transit times between the main markets in Asia, South Africa, and the East Coast of South America.