Suez transits offer boxship operators calling the Port of New York/New Jersey the potential for “double-dip” services. The double dip trip enables the carrier to extend coverage to more than one trade lane, and offers shippers alternative to the US West coast.By Paul Richardson, AJOTIt is more than a decade since the first 8,000-teu containership berthed in New York after a voyage from the Far East, and in the interim years, the growth of the Asia/US East coast trade, although not on the same levels as Asia/US West coast and Asia/Europe, has gradually risen at single digit levels. Importantly however, the arrival of that vessel did not lay the foundations for an onrush of similar-sized capacity in a short space of time – lines acted responsibly and worked on market demand. But like everything in shipping, changes happen, and they have a habit of happening quite quickly. Containership operators have increasingly recognized the potential of the so-called “double-dip” service, which caters for market coverage on more than one trade lane, and the potential of the US West coast alternative, and the Middle East market has attracted the major lines to introduce new services that transit the Suez Canal. The use of the Suez Canal transit means lines are not restricted on containership capacity, unlike the Panama Canal, where the maximum size of a so-called panamax containership is just over 5,000 teu. Today, there are six All Water Services covering the Asia/US East coast trade using the Suez Canal transit route, and all but one of those services has been launched in the last three years. Using the Suez transit not only provides shipping lines with the “double-dip” incentive, but also allows for a juggling of port rotations that inevitably offers faster transit times westbound into ports such as New York/New Jersey. On five of the six Suez Canal transit services, New York/New Jersey figures as first port inbound, and on the other service, which operates as eastbound round-the-world service, New York/New Jersey is the last port outbound back to the Middle East and Asia. By using the Suez Canal transit steamship lines not only have the ability to increase capacity beyond the Panama Canal breadth restrictions of 32.3m, but can also cut up to a week off the transit times compared to the Panama Canal transit. Right now, Maersk and CMA CGM offer one of the fastest transit times westbound from Asia into New York/New Jersey with Shanghai/New York covered in just 31 days through the jointly-operated TP9/Columbus Service. The service was started in May 2009 with a mix of 5,000/7,000 teu vessels covering the US West coast/Asia/US East coast, thereby offering the “double-dip” incentive. Two years later that capacity has increased to the extent that all but three of the 15 vessels deployed on the pendulum service are over 8,000 teu capacity. Effectively, in the space of just two years, average weekly capacity has grown from 6,000 teu, to almost 8,000 teu. CMA CGM has led the way in 2010 with the deployment of 8,500 teu vessels on the service as capacity is freed up from the Asia/North Europe trade following the delivery of larger newbuildings. Maersk, treading the path of slight caution, is now following with the deployment 8,000+ teu vessels replacing those of around 7,000 teu, again as capacity is freed up from the Asia/North Europe and Asia/Mediterranean trades following newbuilding deliveries. Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has different ideas on trade route incentives, and has recognized the importance of the Middle East market through the Golden Gate service, which calls westbound at Salalah before New York, and Jeddah and Colombo eastbound. The Golden Gate service presently operates with an average weekly capacity of 8,500 teu and all 12 of the vessels deployed are over 8,000 teu capacity. Transit times offered on this service include Shanghai/New York in 33 days, but importantly, the Salalah westbound call has opened markets that offer important connections from the Middle E