SM Line announced last week that they will be restructuring their Transpacific service with 2M (Maersk Line and MSC) affective April 1, 2020. This new service change will replace their independent PSW service (CPX) with two services in joint operation with 2M.

They will deploy two 11,000TEU class vessels in cooperation on PS1 (TP8/Orient) and will offer service on PS2 (TP2/Jaguar) through space exchange. They expect this upgrade to improve both service quality and network coverage.

After the joint operation, the only exclusive service provided by SM Line will be its Pacific Northwest Service (Vancouver, Seattle, Portland).

From April 1, SM Line will provide three strings in Transpacific market as below:

PS1:Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo-Busan-Long Beach-Oakland-Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo-Busan
Vessel Capacity: 11,000 TEUs

PS2: Yantian-Shanghai-Long Beach-Oakland-Busan-Ningbo-Shanghai-Yantian
Vessel Capacity: 13,000 TEUs

PNS: Ningbo-Shanghai-Busan-Vancouver-Seattle-Portland-Busan-Kwangyang-Ningbo
Vessel Capacity: 4,500 TEUs

According to SM, their goal is to improve punctuality and service stability as well as increase their service frequency at Shanghai. They will now have direct call from Qingdao and Yantian. Under the new service, SM Line will provide PS service twice a week from Shanghai with competitive transit times. SM said that US coverage extension is also a key point of the service change. Starting with opening Oakland service, SM Line will keep working to expand service coverage.