For the first time, a ship sailing on the new EU5 “loop” (service) operated by the Grand Alliance will call at the Ceres Paragon container terminal in the Port of Amsterdam. The vessel will arrive on May 9, thereby ushering in an additional weekly service between the Far East and Northwestern Europe. The Asian ports included in the new loop are Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Singapore. With this service, the Grand Alliance is striving to move about 5,500 TEUs each week.

The EU5 loop will follow this route: Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Southampton. So Amsterdam is the first European port of call for the new service and will be reached 24 days after a ship’s departure from Shanghai.

The first visiting ship belonging to the new loop is the “Oslo Express,” deployed by Hapag-Lloyd, which is part of the Grand Alliance  ?  a joint venture between three major shipping companies. The vessel left Shanghai on April 15 and is due in Amsterdam on May 9. A total of 8 ships will sail on this weekly service.

The EU5 is the third Grand Alliance service between Asia and Europe to include the Ceres Paragon terminal in Amsterdam. The other services are the EU1 (Japan, Singapore and Amsterdam) and the EU2 (Southern China, Taiwan, Singapore and Amsterdam).

Ab van der Neut, Communication Department of the Port of Amsterdam
Tel. +31 (0)20 5234875 or +31 (0)6 51171291