Difference between Liner vessel and Conference vessel

Difference between Liner vessel and Conference vessel

Liner Service – is a service that operates within a schedule and has a fixed port rotation with published dates of calls at the advertised ports.. A liner service generally fulfills the schedule unless in cases where a call at one of the ports has been unduly delayed due to natural or man-mad causes..

Example : The UK/NWC continent service of MSC which has a fixed weekly schedule calling the South African ports of Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and carrying cargo to the UK/NWC ports of Felixstowe, Antwerp, Hamburg, Le Havre and Rotterdam..

Conference Line – is similar to the Liner Service in most operational aspects BUT the difference is that Conference  Line operators agree to maintain a similar rate structure to all the advertised ports.. This means that the lines operating within that Conference maintain a full monopoly on that trade route (if there are no other Conferences on the same route).. However, now the Conference lines have become obsolete and vessel operators within the same conference maintain their own rate structures..