Alphaliner on Tuesday reported the deferral of the service. CMA CGM did not respond to email requests for comments the past two days, but independent sources confirm that the 18,000-TEU ships will not be deployed in the Pearl River Express service beginning in late May as previously reported.
CMA CGM will retain five of the six ships with capacities of 18,000 TEU on their existing service between Asia and North Europe. CMA CGM also will continue to deploy the existing 11,000-TEU class vessels in the Pearl River Express service, according to Alphaliner.
The decision to delay the deployment of the big ships to the West Coast ports was driven by low freight rates, which on the spot market fell 9 percent from the previous week to $770 per 40-foot container, according to JOC.com’s Market Data Hub. Anecdotal evidence from shippers, carriers and industry analysts indicate that contract rates to the West Coast are about $1,400 per FEU for small and mid-sized BCOs, and $1,100 to $1,200 for the largest retailers.
CMA CGM since late December has been running pilot calls of the 18,000-TEU Benjamin Franklin to different terminals in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle, and those visits could continue. The pilot runs give terminal operators the opportunity to work the largest vessel ever to call in North America so the operators can familiarize management, labor, trucking, rail, equipment providers and shippers with the resources they must deploy to efficiently handle vessels that are expected to call frequently at West Coast ports in the coming years.
