Port of Oakland embraces ocean carrier alliance changes

An executive with the Port of Oakland, Calif., says he is eager for changes in the way container shipping lines operate.

Maritime Director John Driscoll said newly formed ocean carrier alliances will help the port, according to a news release from the facility.

“We’ll see larger vessels coming to the port, which is a good thing,” he told employees in a podcast on the port’s website, portofoakland.com. “We’ll get more container moves-per-vessel which increases the efficiency of operations.”

Driscoll also said the port will receive a new weekly vessel service as a result of carrier realignment. Taiwan-based Wan Hai Lines plans to launch a new route connecting Oakland and Asia, which will increase to 29 the number of regularly scheduled vessel services calling Oakland.

“It’s a good sign when new players come to Oakland,” Driscoll said in the release.

The changes result from an April 1 realignment in which 11 of the world’s largest shipping lines formed three new alliances. Alliances let carriers pool ships on ocean routes to cut costs while expanding market reach. The carriers plan to deploy larger vessels in their alliances, carrying more containers to the U.S. West Coast. That should enable them to reduce the number of voyages while maintaining cargo volume levels, Driscoll said.

New alliance configurations should have little effect on Oakland operations, Driscoll said, noting that some vessels will change which of Oakland’s three international marine terminals they call, but the terminals are prepared.

The first vessels operating under new alliance configurations were due in Oakland during the week of April 17, port officials said.

Oakland has regular service to ports in Asia, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin America, Oceania and Hawaii.