Maersk adds Vietnam to its slow-steaming, 14-big ship Pacific loop

DANISH shipping giant will add Vietnam on May 12 to its slow-steaming 14-ship Trans-Pacific 6 (TP6) service.
Maersk Line`s announcement came just after Grand Alliance carriers Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL said that they will add a direct call at Vietnam`s Cai Mep deepwater port to their South China Sea-Japan Express to the US west coast also starting in May.
The TP6 becomes the first Vietnam service with postpanamax ships, starting with the 9,000-TEU-Mathilde Maersk arriving on May 12 at the SP-PSA International Terminal in Vung Tau 50 miles south from Ho Chi Minh City at the mouth of the Cai Mep-Thi Vai River.
Eastbound, the rotation will be Tanjung Pelepas, Vung Tau, Shenzhen-Yantian, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. The westbound rotation will be Los Angeles, Yokohama, Nagoya, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, and back to Tanjung Pelepas.
Service for southern Vietnam will continue on the westbound rotation for transshipment at Hong Kong for its feeder services. The carrier said Vietnam service to and from the US east coast will remain unchanged.