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
MSC will restart the Koala service from 30 October 2024 to provide connections between Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Fremantle, Jakarta, Shanghai. The revived service will turn in 4 weeks and will deploy 4 ships of 1,500 to 2,500 teu starting with the 1,550 teu MSC QINGDAO F at Shanghai on 30 October, followed by the 1,800 teu MSC SIJING together with the 2,556 teu pair MSC HANISHA III and MSC LUCIA III. The move follows the suspension of the Capricorn and Kiwi Express services in August 202
MSC will add a new call at Haiphong on the Chinook service from 23 October 2024. The revised Chinook rotation will call at Haiphong, Yantian, Shanghai, Qingdao, Busan, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Haiphong and will turn in 8 weeks using 8 ships of 6,400 to 9,600 teu. Zim also takes slots on this service as the ZIM North Pacific (ZNP) service. Revised Chinook port rotation from 23 October 2024
MSC and the Premier Alliance (the new name that ONE, HMM and Yang Ming have chosen to replace the current THE Alliance) have announced a new partnership on the Far East-Europe trade that will involve slot swaps covering 5 services to North Europe and 4 services to the Mediterranean commencing from February 2025. In addition to these, MSC will independently operate 2 additional services to North Europe and 2 services to the Med, ensuring that it remains the largest carrier on the Far East-Europ