MSC is doubling down on its 2025 strategy of offering shippers and forwarders as many port pairs as possible after publishing today an updated proforma 2025 network schedule.
The changes see new load ports added to its Asia-Europe and transpacific services, new destination ports added in Europe and North America, and a redesign of its Indian subcontinent transhipment network on backhaul, as well as head haul routes.
During a speech at last month’s World Ports Conference in Hamburg, MSC chief executive Soren Toft said that the world’s largest shipping line had predicated its network design on the belief that shippers value direct port calls higher than anything else.
“We believe that clients want that certainty of a direct destination call, and that direct connections are more important than speed – ours is a network that reflects the future of a more dispersed supply chain,” he told delegates.
The biggest changes concern its transpacific Mustang string, which currently operates as a China-Long Beach express service. As from next year it will transform into a more normal transpacific service and drop Long Beach in favour of calls at Seattle, Vancouver and Portland.
The move will see it significantly increase its presence in the Oregon port, which currently hosts just two services – MSC’s Chinook service on which Zim is allocated 10% of the space through a slot charter agreement, and the transpacific CPX service operated by HMM in cooperation with SM Line – and its place as the last North America port of call on the Mustang service indicates it is being positioned to cater for US agricultural exports.
In what The Loadstar assumes is a move to offer further options for North America exporters, the transpacific Orient service and the Asia-US east coast Lone Star service, will both introduce calls at the South Korean hub of Busan on their westbound, backhaul legs.
Meanwhile the Chinook service is set to have a call at Vung Tao introduced, while the transpacific Pearl service will introduce a call at Haiphong, meaning that both services will feature calls at both northern and southern Vietnam and increasing options for US importers looking to reduce their sourcing from China.
For European importers, an extra headhaul call is to be introduced at the Pearl River Delta port of Nansha on the Asia-North Europe Lion service and the Asia-Mediterranean Dragon service.
On the Dragon’s eastbound backhaul leg, a call at Colombo has been dropped in favour of Adani’s newly opened Vizhinjam terminal, while a new call Vizhinjam is also set to be included on the headhaul westbound leg of the Jade Asia-Mediterranean service.
MSC has been at the vanguard of carriers testing berthing at Indian’s new transhipment rival to Colombo. However, the Sri Lankan hub is now to be included on the westbound leg of the Asia-North Europe Britannia service, as well as on the backhaul leg of MSC’s Asia-US east coast America service, another string on which Zim buys slots.
Finally, there was more good news for the UK port of London Gateway after MSC added a call to it on its Albatross service. It will call at London Gateway after its Felixstowe call, but its addition means that from next year MSC will call at London Gateway three times per week – two of which will have the Premier Alliance carriers buying slots – and matching the number of calls the Gemini partners will make there.
In a customer advisory MSC added that the extra port calls would not lead to and changes in tonnage deployed on its routes.
