Yang Ming (YM), United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) and China Shipping Container Liner (CSCL) are to adjust their services on the Asia " West Coast of North America trade by merging their current services, PSW4 by YM and AAS2/AWS1 by CSCL/UASC, in to a tripartite joint service.

The new joint service shall continue to be branded by the three carriers, respectively, as PSW4/AAS2/AWS1. The service will employ six vessels with nominal capacity of 4,250 TEU; three operated by YM, two operated by UASC, and one operated by CSCL. The revised port rotation is Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Oakland, Xiamen. The first sailing in the merged structure shall depart Xiamen on 6thDecember 2013.

Together with the establishment of the new joint PSW4/AAS2/AWS1 service, a broader slot swap agreement will be made including YM's existing PSW2 service and CSCL's existing AAC service in this trade. Through the slot swap, CSCL and UASC will take slots from YM's PSW2 service, and YM will take slots from CSCL's AAC service.

The PSW2 service will be marketed as AAS3 by CSCL and marketed as AWS3 by UASC with the following port rotation: Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pusan, Kwangyang, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong. The port rotation of the AAC service is Qingdao, Lianyungang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Pusan, Los Angeles, Oakland, Qingdao.

The YM/CSCL/UASC tripartite cooperation in this trade enables a more cost efficient and flexible network and will continue to provide comprehensive coverage and frequency in the Asia " West Coast of North America trade.