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United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has signed a series of cooperation agreements with China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and CMA CGM. The agreements with these two shipping lines cover the key Asia-Europe, Asia-Mediterranean, Transpacific, and Asia-United States East Coast trades, and are waiting for regulatory approval from the Federal Maritime Commission.
A combination of vessel sharing, slot exchange and slot charter agreements, the revised arrangements will extend UASC’s capabilities to include four weekly services on the Asia-Europe trade routes, and four a week on the Asia to Mediterranean trades. The latter will include two services to the Mediterranean, and one each to the Adriatic and Black Sea.
The agreements will allow UASC to offer a total of five transpacific services, four to Californian ports and one to the Pacific North West, including ports in both the USA and Canada. In addition there will be one service to the US East Coast from Asia, via the Suez Canal, and one service dedicated to the Gulf of Mexico trades.
Additional coverage on the East-West trades will continue through the slot exchange and slot charter agreements already in place with various other partners. Further potential agreements related to the transatlantic trades are still under discussion and will be announced in due course, UASC states.
The company claims, the new services offered will facilitate greater speed and reliability as well as provide expanded geographic coverage, while service rotations will be optimized with calls in all of the major Asian, European and North American ports, using transshipment hubs common to the three partners.
“We are very pleased to have signed these agreements with partners whom we know well and appreciate,” commented Jorn Hinge, UASC president and chief executive officer. “These agreements enable UASC to continue to focus on being a leading provider of the highest levels of customer service in the industry.”
