Grand Alliance container shipping lines Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) have announced they are upgrading their Atlantic Express (ATX) service that plies the trade between north Europe and the north Atlantic.
Starting from early March, the Grand Alliance's ATX service, which is operated in cooperation with Zim Integrated Shipping Services, will deploy four 4,000-TEU vessels to replace the four smaller 2,800-TEU ships the ATX service uses.
The move is intended to provide "more efficient tonnage", a statement issued on behalf of Grand Alliance members said, as the deployment of larger box ships is expected to "considerably reduce bunker consumption per slot-mile, offering a more environmentally friendly solution".
One of the container ships used on the service will be provided by Zim and the other three will come from the three Grand Alliance members.
Furthermore, the Atlantic Express service will replace the current NEX service offered by Zim, the release said.
The port rotation for the weekly, fixed-day ATX service is: Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre, Southampton, New York, Norfolk and Charleston.
Established in 1998, the Grand Alliance global container shipping consortium also comprises MISC, although the Malaysian ocean liner does not provide any trans-Atlantic services.
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