News / HMM takes ships from sinking transpacific for another Asia-Middle East service

Photo: © Marius Steinke | Dreamstime.com

South Korean flagship carrier HMM is diverting ships from transpacific services to its Asia-Middle East route, where cargo volumes and freight rates have held up better.

The US-China tariff war has seen transpacific volumes collapse, although liner operators are pushing for rate hikes in May, hoping both countries could resolve trade tensions.

HMM has two monthly Asia-Middle East sailings, but is redirecting the ships to create an extra Asia-Middle East sailing. One, the 13,000 teu HMM Sapphire, which served HMM’s Asia-USWC service, will leave Busan on 15 May.

A spokesperson told The Loadstar: “We diverted our ships to the Middle East due to increasing cargo volumes there. It is an interim measure to handle our cargo efficiently.”

On Friday, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed the Shanghai-Middle East (Dubai) freight rate down 8% on the previous week, at $1,161 per teu. Prior to that, the weekly freight rate had risen for five consecutive weeks.

Korea Ocean Business Corporation’s Container Composite Index showed South Korea-Middle East rates correcting from $2,219 per 40ft on 7 April to $2,206 on Monday.

Meanwhile, in March, Saudi Ports Authority the gateways had registered near-14% year-on-year growth in container throughput, to almost 700,000 teu, with volumes in the Persian Gulf rising significantly alongside imports from East Asia. Economic growth in the Middle East has seen the region bringing in more finished goods, machinery, and electronics.

Besides the fall in transpacific volumes, the fees imposed on Chinese-built ships calling at US ports are expected to cause such vessels to be cascaded from the transpacific to other routes.