SM Line has cut intra-Asia services to focus on its trans-Pacific service

SM Line Group is narrowing its services in East Asia to focus on trans-Pacific services, now it is part of the 2M alliance with Maersk Line and MSC.

Founded in 2016, when the Samra Midas Group acquired the bankrupt Hanjin Shipping Company, SM Line said it would cut South Korea-Japan (KJX) and Korea-China services ( KCX) in April 2020.

The KJX service, currently operated by the Contship Day vessel of 700TEU capacity, will end after nearly three years from the first operating date, with the last voyage on March 31st. Gwangyang, Busan, Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Gwangyang.

The last voyage of the KCX service is on April 1, operated by the Bomar Hamburg vessel of 2,800TEU capacity, with voyages of Busan, Xingang (Tianjin) and Qingdao.

Due to high demand for container shipping between Busan and Shanghai, SM Line is planning to expand the service along this route from mid-April. The company has expanded this service through the "Vietnam Thailand Express" service and is currently submit port modification plans to the Yellow Sea Commission, including for container shipping service between Korea and China.

Services in East Asia have been badly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, as the region is the epicenter of the disease.

Drewry consulted with Chinese port operators that volume was down 20-40% in three weeks from January 20 to February 10.

Drewry said, even in the most optimistic scenario, it's hard to see how the container market can not be affected. While all Chinese ports (outside of Wuhan) remain open, they are not operating at full capacity, with staff shortages arising from travel restrictions and quarantine measures. Prolonged plant outages also limited the flow of goods destined for those ports and when the final monthly output data port was announced, there would be a significant shortage.

Phaata (Source: Martina Li / Container News)

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