Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd are both launching new services between Asia and Latin America in connection with Maersk Line's acquisition of the German carrier.

In a press release Wednesday, Maersk Line announces that from the beginning of April the carrier will launch several new services between the two continents, more precisely services from Brazil, Colombia and the Caribbean where the carrier promises reduced transit times and greater port coverage. The plan will also influence the services to Peru and Chile in South America.

Hamburg Süd also announced Wednesday morning that the carrier is launching a new service network between Asia, South America's west coast, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean beginning in April. The new network will replace Hamburg Süd's current Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA), with other carriers. Like Maersk Line, the carrier also promises faster transit, more sailings and greater flexibility.

Maersk Line gets Latin America as single biggest tradelane

Both carriers report that their combined capacity will remain the same as it is today.

The other day, analyst firm Alphaliner estimated that a stable development on container services between Asia and Brazil's east coast may be over when Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd implement the new services centered around Latin America.

Latin America is central

In Brazil, where the country's large food export is shipped, it was expected that the services to and from the continent would be changed drastically and that rates would fluctuate after Maersk Line's acquisition of the Latin America specialized carrier Hamburg Süd.

Latin America will become central in Maersk Line's future container business following the acquisition of Hamburg Süd and the Latin American trade routes will probably become Maersk Line's biggest single tradelane measured in combined capacity.

The competition authorities in the EU, China, South Korea and South Africa set a number of requirements for Maersk Line's acquisition of Hamburg Süd because of the combined size of the carriers and thereby the impact of the merger on the market.

Source: Alphaliner

New vessels are expected to be deployed in the battle between major carriers for market shares, after Maersk Line's acquisition of Hamburg Süd, where Maersk Line's competitors, according to Alphaliner, will try to expand their presence on the routes between the Far East and South America's east and west coasts, as well as after the freight volumes and rates have increased significantly in the wake of a two-year downturn.

English Edit: Ida Jacobsen

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