MSC and Zim will withdraw 2 of their Far East-US East Coast services from May 2025 in response to the sharp drop off in China-US volumes and retain 4 of their remaining FE-USEC services with revised rotations as follows: * America/Zim Seven Seas (Z7S) : Yantian call is dropped and replaced by Haiphong as the service turns around in Vietnam and omits China. Revised rotation Colombo, Singapore, Laem Chabang, Haiphong, Cai Mep, Singapore, New York, Baltimore, Savannah, Jacksonville, Colombo from
MSC will split its North Europe-Asia-US West Coast Swan-Sentosa service into 2 separate services with the Asia-North Europe service renamed as the Swan that will call at Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, Sines, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Aarhus, Hamburg, Antwerp, Port Klang, Singapore, Shekou, Busan from May 2025 with the Cape routing retained. The Yokohama call on the former Swan-Sentosa service will be dropped, along with eastbound calls at Laem Chabang and Vung Tau.
MSC will downgrade its Far East-US West Coast transpacific network to just 3 sailings per week, with the Orient service withdrawn from May 2025. It follows the earlier the suspension of the Mustang service launch in February. The Orient service called at Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Oakland, Busan, Qingdao turning in 6 weeks using up to 6 ships of 8,000 to 15,000 teu. The last sailing was made by the 14,952 teu MSC ORION that departed from Busan from 21 April 2025 and 11,037 teu CAPE
MSC will leapfrog its rivals to become the largest global container port operator with the addition of Hutchison Port’s portfolio of terminals outside of China comprising of 39 terminals in 21 countries with consolidated container handling volumes of 51m TEU in 2024. MSC’s terminal operating arm, TIL, together with consortium partners BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partners announced on 4 March 2025 an agreement to acquire 80% of Hutchison’s port interests at a total enterprise value of $2
MSC will suspend one of the 5 Asia to North America West Coast services that it planned to launch in 2025, reducing its Transpacific coverage to only 4 sailings per week. The withdrawal of the Mustang service that was to connect Xiamen, Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Busan, Xiamen would remove about 12,000 teu weekly from the FE-WCNA route and would release 7 ships that MSC said would be redeployed to other trades. The Mustang service had been operated in its pr
MSC will have better market coverage and a larger market share compared to the Gemini Cooperation despite operating as the sole independent carrier on the East-West trades following the alliance reshuffle in February 2025. MSC will be able to offer the same or a larger number of weekly sailings on all of the 4 main routes than Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, using its self-operated services as well as selective partnerships with Premier Alliance on the North Europe and Med routes and with Zim on the US
MSC has restarted the Sunrise service connecting Busan, Vostochny, Busan from 6 January 2025 deploying the 1,121 teu MSC KANU F and 1,118 teu MSC FORTUNE F. The service will replace the previous call at Vostochny on the Golden Horn service that has been dropped. The revised Golden Horn service calls at Shanghai, Ningbo, Rizhao, Vladivostok, Busan, Shanghai from January 2025.
MSC will revise the port rotation of its NWC to South Africa service from 20 January 2025 to call at London Gateway, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Sines, Las Palmas, Walvis Bay, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Cape Town, Las Palmas, London Gateway. The revision will involve the at Walvis Bay to provide direct connections between Europe and Namibia. The NWC to South Africa service turns in 10 weeks and deploys 10 ships of 5,000 to 12,000 teu. MSC will also add a new Namibia Express service
MSC will launch a new Eastern Cape Express Service connecting Port Elizabeth, Walvis Bay, Rotterdam, London Gateway, Antwerp from 2 January 2025. The service will turn 7 weeks using ships of 2,000 to 3,000 teu starting with the 3,005 teu MSC NEDERLAND III at Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) on 2 January 2025. It is aimed at the grapes exports from South Africa and Namibia to Europe. Port rotation of the new Eastern Cape Express Service
MSC’s sweep of second-hand containership tonnage since 2020 has brought its total resale vessel acquisitions in the last 4 years to more than 420 ships. MSC’s unprecedented acquisition spree has removed more than 17% of the total fleet that are available for charter in the 800 to 15,000 teu size segment and has been a key driver behind the sharp rebound in charter rates this year. The shortage of charter market ships have forced carriers to fix forward for their favoured tonnage with deliveries