MSC Repositions Megamax Vessels to New Trade Lanes

In a “surprise move,” Alphaliner reports that Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), the world's largest container line, is relocating all of its 19,200 to 24,300 TEU megamax vessels from the Asia–North Europe route to serve the Asia–Med and Asia–West Africa trades.

Starting this month, MSC will operate independently on the primary east-west trades and will now deploy ships averaging around 14,700 TEU on the Asia–North Europe route.

“According to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), Shanghai to North Europe rates stood at USD 1,578 per teu last week, which represents a drop of 44% over the first seven weeks of this year. Reducing capacity on this trade lane could be considered an attempt to reduce pressure on rates,” Alphaliner noted in its latest weekly report, adding that spot freight rates for the shorter Shanghai–West Africa route remain robust at approximately $4,000 per teu.

“The spot rate decline into North Europe is much faster and deeper than the usual seasonality – yet at the same time Asia to Mediterranean is essentially following normal seasonality,” observed analysts at rival consultancy Sea-Intelligence.