The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) is a research and discussion forum used by 15 of the main container shipping lines which carry cargo between Asia and the United States. The agreement operates differently and has different membership for eastbound and westbound carriage. U.S. authorization falls under the oversight of the Federal Maritime Commission.
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is completely mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.
Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres (17,212,000 sq mi), about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population, but also dense and large settlements, as well as vast barely populated regions. Its 4.5 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The members of the TSA (eastbound) and TSA (westbound, marked *) are:
- APL Co. Pte Ltd. *
- China Shipping Container Lines
- CMA-CGM *
- COSCO Container Lines, Ltd. *
- Evergreen Line *
- Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd. *
- Hapag-Lloyd AG *
- Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd. *
- Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line)
- Maersk Line *
- Mediterranean Shipping Co. *
- Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K. Line) *
- Orient Overseas Container Line, Ltd. *
- Yangming Marine Transport Corp. *
- Zim Integrated Shipping Services. [1] *
American President Lines Ltd., along with its parent company CMA CGM, is the world's third-largest container transportation and shipping company, providing more than 80 weekly services.
China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd, was a containerized marine shipping company, based in Shanghai, China.
China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, known as COSCO or COSCO Group, is a Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company. Its headquarters is in Ocean Plaza in the Xicheng District in Beijing. It owns 1114 ships, including 365 dry bulk vessels, a container fleet with a capacity of 1,580,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), and a tanker fleet of 120 vessels. The fleet calls at over a thousand ports worldwide. It ranks third largest in both number of container ships and aggregate container volume in the world. In 2012, it was among China's top 15 brands.
