Maersk Line will reroute its TP12 Asia-US East Coast service through the new Panama Canal and change it into a standalone round-the-world service from September 2016.

“We are changing our TP12 service to provide a better product to shippers in Korea, northern and eastern China,” said Klaus Rud Sejling, head of the East-West network at Maersk Line. “By transiting the expanded Panama Canal, we will significantly reduce transit times into key ports on the US East Coast. At the same time, we will reduce our CO₂ and exhaust gas emissions due to the shorter distance.”

The new port rotation will be: Hong Kong – Chiwan – Yantian – Ningbo – Shanghai – Busan – Panama – Newark – Norfolk – Baltimore – Newark – Salalah – Colombo – Singapore – Hong Kong.

Eleven 8,500 TEU vessels will be deployed on the new service.

Maersk Line will also add Busan to the westbound TP10 service, and combine the TP8 and TP11 service to form a pendulum service.

The pendulum service will be operated by 17 8,500 TEU vessels, according to Maersk.