MSC has started to redirect ships chartered from Israeli-linked owners from the Persian Gulf following the seizure of the 14,952 teu MSC ARIES by Iranian special forces on 13 April 2024. According to a statement from MSC on 17 April, the carrier is in discussions with Iranian authorities to secure the release of the 25 crew members on the MSC ARIES and for cargo on board the ship to be discharged. Several ships that were due to enter the Persian Gulf has already been redirected, with details a
MSC has launched the Ingonyama service connecting Coega, East London, Coega on 2 April 2024 with the 1,118 teu MSC TOKATA F. The new service will provide connections at Coega to MSC's global network as an alternative to trucking to East London which is located some 270km away by road.
MSC has upgraded its Turkiye-UK West Coast service with the addition of new calls at Portbury and Greenock from 26 January 2024. The upgraded service will call at Piraeus, Izmir, Gebze, Gemlik, Tekirdag, Aliaga, Barcelona, Valencia, Sines, Le Havre, Liverpool, Greenock, Liverpool, Portbury, Le Havre, Valencia, Barcelona, Malta, Piraeus. The service turns in 7 weeks and deploys 7 ships of 4,200-5,100 teu.
MSC has launched a new West Med to Red Sea service connecting Barcelona, Gioia Tauro, Mersin, Jeddah, King Abdullah Port, Port Said, Barcelona. The service turns in 3 to 4 weeks and will deploy up to 6 ships of 4,800-6,800 teu with the first sailing by the 6,724 teu MSC MELISSA on 14 January 2024.
MSC has launched a new Djibouti service connecting Colombo, Djibouti, Aden, Colombo from 23 January 2024. The service will turn in 2 weeks and deploys 2 ships - the 4,056 teu MSC GINA and 3,424 teu MSC ROSSELLA.
MSC has launched a new Malacca service connecting Singapore, Belawan, Singapore with the 2,113 teu MSC JANIS 3 from 6 February 2024. The weekly feeder service will turn in 7 days using a single ship.
MSC has launched a new Ecuador-NWC & Scan Baltic-USA service that merges it existing Ecuador to NWC service with the Scan Baltic to USA service. The new service calls at Klaipeda, Gdynia, Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Le Havre, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Freeport (Bahamas), Balboa, Guayaquil, Puerto Bolívar, Guayaquil, Cristobal, Moín, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Klaipeda and has started from 6 January 2024 from Klaipeda with the 8,819 teu MSC VI
MSC has introduced a new Red Sea Express service that connects Tekirdag, Derince, Mersin, King Abdullah Port, Jeddah, Aqaba, Tekirdag from 31 December 2023 with the 4,872 teu MSC CARMEN. The service will provide connections to the Red Sea ports in Saudi Arabia and Jordan that are currently restricted.
MSC has upgraded its FE-US West Coast Jaguar service to the 19,000 teu scale with ships that have been redeployed from the Asia-Europe routes due to their Israeli links. The Jaguar service calls at Nansha, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Busan, Nansha and used ships of 13,000 to 19,000 teu previously. Since the Hamas-Israel conflict started in October and attacks on vessel traffic on the Red Sea has escalated in recent weeks, MSC has shifted 6 ships of 16,500-19,500 teu owned by Zodiac
Ellerman will purchase 300 teu per week on MSC's Scan Baltic to USA service on a roundtrip basis starting from 6 January 2024. The service calls at Klaipeda, Gdynia, Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Le Havre, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Klaipeda. Ellerman will have a maximum allocation of 120 teu per week from Scandinavian ports to USA. The slot arrangement on MSC will replace Ellerman's USA Express (USX) service that calls at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Tilbury