TAIWAN's TS Lines has tied up with CULines in a fortnightly Asia-North Europe AEX loop with the deployment of its own tonnage, reports Paris-based Alphaliner.
TS Lines has initially provided the 4,198-TEU TS Singapore, from Ningbo, as the sixth vessel on the loop, said the Alphaliner container consultancy.
"CULines would need a fleet of 10 vessels to upgrade its AEX to a weekly service. The joining of TS Lines with a sixth vessel can be considered to be part of this ambition to further upgrade this loop," said Alphaliner.
The AEX fortnightly loop was launched by CULines in June 2021 after the carrier had tested the market with several ad-hoc sailings.
However, as the market pivots towards some form of normalisation it is essential to offer at least a weekly service in order to compete with the three vessel-sharing alliances.
For the Benelux, TS Lines has established TSL Belgium and TSL the Netherlands in a joint venture with agency grouping Best & Osterrieth, part of the Dutch Herfurth Group.
Interestingly, Lampke along with Best & Osterrieth represented Singapore's PIL in North Europe during its Asia - North Europe VSA liner service with Wan Hai Lines which operated from 2004 to 2011.
Unlike the transpacific, which has seen a raft of non-alliance services commence links between Asia and North America adding, according to Alphaliner data, some 39,000 slots per week, newcomers on the Asia - Europe tradelanes "still only face limited competition" said the consultant.
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