Revamp for liner services from Asia – South America

Singapore: The current economic upheaval has led to a severe revamp of liner services running from Asia to South America’s East Coast.

As of December, Pacific International Lines and Mistui OSK Lines are to dissolve their current jointly operated service - with MOL choosing to launch an independent service in January that will deploy 11 vessels (five ships of 3,000teu and six of 4,250teu). PIL, is also to launch a similar service around the same time and will initially operate the route independently with 10 ships of 1,700teu capacity. However, PIL has announced that it intends to partner Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha from June 2009, at which point the service will then deploy 10 Panamax- sized vessels (with each company supplying five ships). PIL has also chosen to suspend its joint Asia - Europe service with Wan Hai Lines, with both carriers opting to cover calls using slots chartered from Cosco Container Lines.
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