MSC unexpectedly withdraws all “Megamax” ships from the Far East-Northern Europe services. Experts suspect that the reason is the declining rate levels on these routes.
The shipping company, managed by Gianluigi Aponte, intends to deploy all freighters with capacities of 19,200 TEU to 24,300 TEU on the Far East – Mediterranean and Asia – West Africa routes in future.
MSC has been operating on its own since the end of the “2M” alliance with Maersk at the beginning of February. With well over 6 million TEU in its fleet, the Aponte company is the undisputed No. 1 in global liner shipping. Apart from slot charter agreements with the “Premier Alliance” of ONE, Yang Ming and HMM in transpacific traffic, all services are to be operated with own tonnage.
MSC deploys smaller ships
To the surprise of many experts, MSC will be deploying smaller ships on the important Far East routes in future. Instead of the currently largest units, Megamax ships of 24,000 TEU, “Neo-Panamax” (NPX) ships with capacities of 13,000 TEU to 17,000 TEU are now to be deployed, reports the industry service Alphaliner.
The “Megamaxes” will be diverted to the “AfricaExpress” service between Asia and West Africa and to three of MSC’s four independent Far East-Mediterranean services, among others. In contrast to the “hub-and-spoke” concept of the Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd with a few major transit ports, MSC promises further services with a high number of ports of call.
MSC has not yet officially confirmed the fleet restructuring. The new fleet strategy could be a reaction to the sharp fall in freight rates in the Far East trade lane, analysts suspect. Last week, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) plummeted to an average of $1,578/TEU, a 44% drop compared to the first seven weeks of the year.
As the market leader, MSC could be trying to reduce rate pressure with this move. At the same time, the significantly higher prices in the other trade lures. After all, around $4,000/TEU is currently being paid between Shanghai and West Africa.
