International shipping company Maersk announces resumption of TP20 route (direct service from north to south through Greater China)

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Time of issue：

2024-03-22 15:30

At a time when the U.S. line volume is rising, Maersk also announced that it will improve its Asia-U.S. East Coast service network by restarting the TP20 route, following THE Alliance's announcement to resume two trans-Pacific routes suspended for nearly half a year.

Starting in mid-April, the Danish shipping giant will restart its TP20 route, running from north to south through Greater China, and then direct flights to extend its service to destinations such as Newark, Baltimore and Houston to meet the transportation needs of more customers.

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Maersk pointed out in a statement that as an independent service, the TP20 will provide stable weekly departure times and competitive transit times.

The order of the Maersk TP20 route is Qingdao-Shanghai-Yantian-Panama Canal-Newark-Baltimore-Houston-Panama Canal. The maiden voyage will be made by the "Maersk Wallis" at Qingdao Port on April 21.

With only 10 months remaining in the vessel-sharing agreement, Maersk and MSC are actively looking for independent east-west service opportunities outside the 2M alliance. However, Maersk's Gemini partnership with Hapg-Lloyd from February next year will add complexity to its decision-making, while MSC, as a non-alliance member, is likely to maintain the status quo with its independent services.

Recently, the U.S. container imports surged in February, the Panama Canal transit restrictions were slightly relaxed, and the spot freight rate was at least twice that of a year ago. These factors jointly prompted Maersk's decision to resume TP20 service from China to the east coast of the United States next month.

As early as August 2021, Maersk launched a "premium" loop service in addition to the slot swap and ship sharing agreement reached between 2M and Zim, deploying 4500TEU Panamax vessels, aiming to benefit from the market rate of up to US $20000 per 40 feet at that time. However, last month Maersk announced a "temporary suspension" of TP20 service in anticipation of "reduced global demand.

However, on April 21, the adjusted TP20 will make its maiden voyage in Qingdao by "Maersk Wallis" of 4334TEU built in 2010. The ship will also load cargo in Shanghai and Yantian for Newark, Baltimore and Houston in the eastern United States and along the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, veteran shipping analyst John McCown's analysis of imports at the top 10 U.S. container ports in February showed that imports surged 25.3 percent year-over-year to 1.833 million TEU in the month. Although this increase is impressive and shows potential economic vitality, McCown also pointed out that due to the later Chinese New Year this year and the impact of the leap year in 2024, February's import growth was affected to a certain extent.

In addition, McCown's analysis revealed a reversal in the movement of cargo from the west to the east coast. Imports in the U.S. Pacific ports rose 39 percent year-on-year in February, while growth in Eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast ports was more modest at 14.6 percent. He further noted that some of the freight traffic diverted to the East Coast has been returning to West Coast ports, adding to the recent volatility along the coast.

Another factor that may have influenced Maersk's decision to resume its TP20 route is the extension of part of the Asia-to-US East Coast route due to the Red Sea crisis, coupled with the uncertainty of the East Coast labor contract negotiations, and the expiration of the existing agreement between the International Dockers' Association ILA and the American Maritime Union on September 30. These factors together indicate that the peak season may come earlier this year. Therefore, Maersk restarted TP20 services to meet the growth in market demand and respond to potential industry changes.

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