ALPHALINER Liner Services

Transcription

1 ALPHALINER Liner Services Alphaliner Guide on Liner Services The Alphaliner website includes as far as possible all the international container services, feeder services and significant domestic (cabotage) services. The major breakbulk and general purpose roro services are also listed. For the purpose of this website, the expression "liner trades" covers every liner service in the common acceptance of the term. Given this common acceptance, are excluded a number of specific, more or less regular services such as parcel trades (steel and other neo-bulk products), pure forest product trades, pure vehicle carrying services, ferry services and very small scale coastal services. Alphaliner is an independent research company providing ship data, service data, information, news and statistics. This data is hosted and marketed by AXSMarine. This document is for the private use of AXS-Alphaliner subscribers and must not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form. General Alphaliner and AXS-Alphaliner user terms and conditions apply to this document.

2 The Alphaliner website allows an easy and quick access to every liner service of importance worldwide, including regional and feeder services. Each service is attributed a unique reference number that we call the 'S Code'. The S Code is a very convenient way to refer to well identified services and is indeed used by subscribers who want to exchange information. It allows avoiding ambiguities and confusions. Each service is provided with the following information : - Service code number (S Code) - cross indexed with the ship register - Name of service / Alliance / Route Alternative names if any - Partners : ship providers and slot takers (if any) - Nature of the service (Full container, breakbulk etc.) - Geographical coverage - Duration of rotation (in days) - Frequency of sailings - Number and size range of ships used - Rotation and significant transhipment options - Historical data and other comments (with links to longer developments) - List of ships deployed with basic characteristics, with link to the ship data sheet - Average weekly / annual capacity if relevant These services are arranged in geographical order in the TRADES section, starting with the east-west services and then the various north-south and regional services. These services are systematically repeated under the operators headings in the OPERATORS Section. Some ways of how to find and read the information are detailed hereunder. You can display service details from different places : from the LIST OF TRADES from an OPERATOR LIST OF SERVICES from a SHIP DATASHEET (by clicking on the 'Route' item) from a SERVICE DATA SHEET (links are provided to connecting services) from a NEWS ITEM (by clicking on the relevant link) from a PORT search from typing the usual name of a service in the relevant box (Examples : Med Andes, SLCS, AEX, CIX etc.) from typing the S Code a service in the relevant box from typing either the usual name of a service or its S Code in the General searchbox (top right corner) It is recalled that the S Code (four or five digit figure) gives you an instant access to a service you want to consult regularly, without any ambiguity. New services and major changes are reported in our DAILY NEWS. A search driver is associated to the DAILY NEWS section in order to browse the ARCHIVES. IMPORTANT : Empty your Internet browser cache-memory and click on 'Refresh' in order to get the latest data Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 2 Alphaliner

3 Note on multitrade services The LIST OF TRADES offers several geographical sub sections (trade lanes). In the case of multitrade services, such as Round The World or Pendulum services, they are repeated in every relevant Trade section, but only ports served within the geographical coverage are shown. The regions outside this coverage being indicated as such: (Europe), (East Asia), (ANZ) etc. The full description (showing the full port coverage) of multitrade services is shown under the Multitrade Services Overview item, at the bottom of the SERVICES page. Note on the S Code When a multitrade service is shown several times under different geographical sections (trade lanes), the S Code remains naturally the same, even if the description of the rotation and transhipment options vary, according to the trade lane considered. Abbreviations used to identify the nature of the service FC - full container service CB - container / breakbulk service CR - container / roro service RR - roro service only CBR - container / breakbulk / roro service BB - breakbulk service only CB/P - container / breakbulk + reefer pallets SEARCHING SERVICES BY PORTS OF CALL A search driver by ports of call is provided. 800 ports are listed, down to ports fitted only with a single conventional wharf. In a number of cases, links offered by transhipment are shown. By default, the search is done on direct calls only. Should you wish to include ports served via transhipment, click in the relevant box. Caution When selecting the transhipment options, the search is made only on essential ports served by transhipment in specific cases where a particular main line connects with a specific feeder service, or a bundle of feeder services, and vice versa. For arterial east-west services and a number of north-south main services, transhipment possibilities are so numerous (covering a whole continent at each end) that there is no point to list them. Apart from the direct / transhipment choice, there are two ways of using this search driver. 1 Ask for both port of origin and port of destination A list of services linking the two ports considered will be displayed, including main transhipment possibilities if this option is selected. 2 Ask for one port only A list of services calling at this port will be displayed, including main transhipment possibilities if this option is selected. The second option is particularly useful in case you are looking to carry cargoes between two remote ports. Thus, should you want to carry a cargo between places as exotic as Funafuti, in the South Pacific, and Qaqortok, in Greenland (everything is possible!), make a first search on 'Funafuti' and note the result. Once it has been done, do the same with Qaqortok. Then, you can contact the operators calling at either Funafuti or Qaqortok to Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 3 Alphaliner

4 know what can be done. In this example, they are niche operators that can organize the transport thanks to connecting carrier agreements. The reason why we do not track directly possible connections between ports such as Funafuti and Qaqortok is that there are so numerous possibilities of transhipment that it can be only assessed on a case by case basis (and it is also the way carriers do it if you try to ask for such connections in their websites). The same applies for example to links such as Helsinki-Ho Chi Min City or Puerto Cabello-Tunis. See also the Tips below. DO NOT FORGET TO HIT THE "CLEAR" BUTTON BEFORE STARTING A NEW SEARCH Ports groupings For an efficient use of this port to port search driver, some ports have been linked to neighbouring ports : - Los Angeles and Long Beach (look Los Angeles) - San Francisco and Oakland (look San Francisco) - Miami and Port Everglades (look Miami) - UAE hubs : Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Dubai (Port Rashid and Jebel Ali), Abu Dhabi (look UAE) - Shenzhen area : Chiwan, Shekou, Yantian, Dachan Bay (look Shenzhen) - Bangkok and Laem Chabang (look Bangkok) - Marseille and Fos (look Marseille) Tips to find the Service or Operator answering your needs Large operators serve hundreds of ports. In this case, it leads to thousands of possible combinations for a single operator. There are well over a million combinations for the 20 largest lines together. To complicate the matter, a majority of pairs of ports are not linked by a single service. There is often a combination of a main service and feeder or relay services. To achieve a port-to-port efficient search, the system would have to display the succession of services involved. Although nothing is technically impossible, it is not manageable given the large number of possible combinations and the options that vary from one carrier to another, even when they are tied in alliances and service agreements. Should this be done, it would not solve all problems because the combination of services physically used by a given operator can vary with the day of the week. This multiplies the possible combinations for a port-to-port search. Furthermore, a number of regional carriers offer a vast array of worldwide destinations from the local ports they serve, acting as NVOCCs on intercontinental lines. Thus, tiny operators can offer port combinations by the hundreds. Taking all this into account, an efficient port-to-port search driver working on a worldwide scale requires the compilation of so many combinations that it is not indeed manageable. Even single operators offering on their website such drivers for their own lines have to make compromises, hence the display of the following message : 'Please contact your nearest agent'. If you want to know the possibilities offered between two given ports, you have the choice between two ways : 1 - The two ports are main ports served by main lines : you can select the name of both ports. Thus, selecting 'Singapore' and 'Le Havre' will display all the services linking directly these two ports (or by transhipment in some cases, if you tick this option). This method can also be effective to know what services link two regional ports, such as Hamburg and Helsinki for example. Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 4 Alphaliner

5 2 - One of the two ports, or both, are not served by main lines. Thus you want to ship a container of goods from Helsinki to Ho Chi Minh City. > Step 1 : select 'Helsinki' to know which physical regional services call there, connecting with which hub. > Step 2 : repeat the same with 'Ho Chi Minh City'. > Step 3 : you can select main lines operating trunk services between hubs, say, Hamburg and Singapore, or Rotterdam and Hong Kong. Alternatively, you can click the 'Europe / Far East' item in the LIST OF TRADES (down in the same page) to display all the Europe-Far East services offered. In most cases, the lines may offer the Helsinki-Ho Chi Minh City under one through bill of lading, arranging the organisation of the whole voyage, including the feedering on one of the services displayed at steps 1 and 2. You may also ask to the regional carriers to organise the shipment. Some of them offer global shipments as NVOCCs on main lines, or have connecting carrier agreements with selected main carriers. In a number of cases, services by transhipment are displayed, thus speeding up the selection process. These have been compiled only for particular transhipment liaisons (specific cases or services of niche operators) and when no more than one transhipment is involved. PROFILE AND SERVICES OF OPERATORS Alphaliner provides a short background of operators and sums up their development. These sections are updated as needed. Recent news are grouped immediately under these backgrounds and developments or under the head of a geographical section if relevant. These news are kept as such a few months before being integrated in the Background / Development items. Alphaliner displays all the liner services of the selected OPERATOR. These services are ranked geographically, starting with multitrade services (if any) and east-west lines. For the sake of exhaustivity, strings of multitrade services are also shown (duplication) under the relevant geographical sections. The service descriptions have been compiled and are kept updated with the utmost care. However, errors or obsolete data are unavoidable. Do not hesitate to contact us in this respect. The AXS-Alphaliner website is a joint production of Alphaliner, a leading data and information provider in the liner shipping field, and of AXSMarine, a marine software provider. Alphaliner is an independent consultancy providing an exhaustive and permanently updated inventory of all the world containerships and liner services. Detailed descriptions of the containerships are provided, together with their commercial history and their current status. Liner services data sheets detail the rotation and ships deployed. A full section is dedicated to the liner operators, with trading profiles, fleets and orderbooks. On top of this, Alphaliner also provides fleet statistics, forecast and market analysis, as well as a weekly newsletter. This data is available by subscription at - Please contact AXSMarine for a subscription. Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 5 Alphaliner

6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Why is there sometimes one additional ship listed in a service data sheet? For some services plied by a well defined number of ships -such as weekly fixed day services-, it happens that the count of ships attached to the service data sheet shows one ship more than indicated in the service description. This can be explained by one of the following reasons : - A ship entering General Repairs (dry dock) is temporarily replaced, but continues to appear in the schedules as the duration of GR is less than the duration of a full rotation (Ships use to stay three weeks on average in GR). - An additional ship is temporarily inserted to scoop up a surplus of containers. - An additional ship is temporarily inserted to fill a sailing gap caused by delays. - On pendulum services, a ship turns 'en route' for operational reasons and so does not achieve the full rotation. The complement of rotation is done by another ship, which adds to the fleet. - Cascade effects create overlappings in schedules (the entering ship follows the departing ship at one end of the rotation). - Conversely, ships can be missing as a sailing is skipped for planned or unplanned reasons. It also happens that a 'TBN' ship (To Be Named) appears to make up the number. Usually, the name of the ship appears in schedules, but does not correspond to a physical ship. We add in this case the mention (tbn). This case remains rare. Some lines also advertise ghost ships with imaginary names to not show gaps in weekly schedules. In extreme cases, the TBN ship is not chartered in time, or is delayed. This is quite rare but it happens from time to time, especially when there is a chronic lack of ships available for charter. In this case, smaller ships can be chartered at the last minute or shipments can be arranged on other services (including those of competitors). Sometimes, ships are squarely missing, often because of a ship shortage, of because as a result of contingency measures resulting in a ship sent at the last minute on another service. Why are destinations such as Dallas, Toronto, Moscow or Delhi not covered? Alphaliner objective is to serve first the liner shipping industry, not the transportation industry as a whole. In this respect, our Search tool covers only sea ports and it excludes inland destinations, which are outside of our scope. Although Maersk Line, CMA CGM, MSC etc. cover inland destinations and as such are multimodal transportation companies, not just shipping companies, our coverage is limited to their shipping arms. Road haulage, stack trains, river barging or air transportation are not covered by our system. Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 6 Alphaliner

7 Geographical abbreviations EUROPE N. Eur - Northern Europe (From Cape North to Northern Spain) Baltic - Baltic Sea (East of Belts) UK/Cont - United Kingdom/Continent (United Kingdom + range Le Havre-Hamburg) S. Eur. - Southern Europe (Portugal and Mediterranean Europe) Med - Mediterranean (All the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea) W. Med - Western Mediterranean (Western Med Basin, West of Malta) E. Med - Mediterranean (Eastern Med Basin, East of Malta) Bl. S. / Black S. - Black Sea NE - Near East (Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan) AFRICA N. Af - Northern Africa (From Gibraltar Strait to Suez + Morocco) W. Af - Western Africa (From Dakar to Angola) S. Af - Southern Africa (South African Republic and Namibia) E. Af - Eastern Africa (Mozambique to Sudan) Indian Oc. - Indian Ocean Western basin (East Africa, Madagascar, Mascareignes) ASIA ME - Middle East (Arabian Peninsula and Middle East Gulf) Indian sub - Indian Subcontinent (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar) FE - Far East (Asia, East of Burma) SE Asia - South East Asia (From Malaysia to HK and Taiwan including Indonesia and Philippines) Sg - Singapore HK - Hong Kong Twn - Taiwan Thail. - Thailand Phil. - Philippines Vnm - Vietnam NE Asia - North East Asia (Northern China, Korea, Japan, Eastern Russia) Kanto - Eastern Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya) Kansai - Western Japan (Osaka, Kobe, Moji) AMERICA N. Am - Northern America (Canada, USA, Mexico) WCNA - West Coast North America (Mexico to Alaska) USWC - U.S. West Coast PNW - Pacific North West (From Alaska to Seattle) PSW - Pacific South West (San Francisco/Oakland and Los Angeles/LB) ECNA - East Coast North America (Florida to Eastern Canada) USEC - U.S. East Coast (From Canadian boundary to Florida (Key West)) St L. - St Lawrence (St Lawrence Region) USG - U.S. Gulf (From Florida (Key West) to Yucatan Peninsula) C. Am - Central America ECCA - East Coast Central America (From Guatemala to Panama) WCCA - West Coast Central America (From Mexico to Panama) Caribb. - Caribbeans (Caribbean Islands from Cuba to West Indies) S. Am - Southern America (All South American continent) NCSA - North Coast South America (Venezuela, Colombia) WCSA - West Coast South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile) ECSA - East Coast South America (Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina) OCEANIA ANZ - Australia-New Zealand (Australia and New Zealand) S. Pac - South Pacific Ocean (Various Islands in the South Pacific Basin) Alphaliner - Trades & Services - 7 Alphaliner