Grand Alliance suspends Asia-Black Sea Express service
The member lines of the Grand Alliance - Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK and OOCL - have decided to temporarily suspend their ABX service between Asia and the Black Sea/East Mediterranean, effective immediately.
This follows Friday's announcement that the GA was suspending its EU5 service between Europe and Asia.
The weekly ABX service, which was jointly operated by The New World Alliance (TNWA), deployed eight 5,000 TEU vessels on the following port rotation: Shanghai > Ningbo > Shekou > Singapore > Damietta > Istanbul > Constanta > Odessa > Constanta > Istanbul > Damietta > Jeddah > Singapore > Shanghai.
Although the joint cooperation with TNWA on the ABX service has been suspended, the Grand Alliance will continue offering alternative coverage between Asia and the Black Sea/East Med ports.
The suspension of both the ABX and the EU5 services is due to the global economic slowdown that has led to reduced customer demand.
This follows Friday's announcement that the GA was suspending its EU5 service between Europe and Asia.
The weekly ABX service, which was jointly operated by The New World Alliance (TNWA), deployed eight 5,000 TEU vessels on the following port rotation: Shanghai > Ningbo > Shekou > Singapore > Damietta > Istanbul > Constanta > Odessa > Constanta > Istanbul > Damietta > Jeddah > Singapore > Shanghai.
Although the joint cooperation with TNWA on the ABX service has been suspended, the Grand Alliance will continue offering alternative coverage between Asia and the Black Sea/East Med ports.
The suspension of both the ABX and the EU5 services is due to the global economic slowdown that has led to reduced customer demand.