MSC has launched another independent service across the Atlantic, taking its market share on the trade lane to nearly 50%.
's latest loop brings the airline's new services to five since April, all independent of the 2M alliance.
According to Alphaliner, the airline's NWC to Mexico fast loop begins this week with a 4,253 TEU Genoa sailing from Antwerp with stops in Bremerhaven, Freeport ( Bahamas ) and Veracruz, Mexico and Altamira.
According to the consulting firm, the 2,078 TEU MSC Shirley (pictured above) will set sail next week, and the 5,018 TEU MSC Anya will set sail next week.
Since then, MSC has acquired more than 200 container ships in the past two years due to its continued attack on the second-hand ship market, so there is no shortage of tonnage it can deploy on the loop.
Through a $2 million agreement with Maersk , MSC already offers direct connections from Northern Europe to Mexico via the TA3/NEUATL3 loop and in Antwerp on Maersk’s Nordic-Mexico- Caribbean - Costa Rica express service -Common loading in the Mexican section. "It is understood MSC has launched this additional independent loop to provide more reliable services to and from Mexican ports as well as its regional hub at Freeport,"
Alphaliner said.
The Geneva-based airline owns With a huge order of 1.5 million TEUs, it has an aggressive growth strategy compared to the more conservative policy of its 2 million partners. Indeed, across the Atlantic, Alphaliner described MSC's 29% volume growth over the past 12 months as a "shooting star". A survey of trade routes conducted by
consulting company showed that there are currently 205 container ships deployed on the Nordic/Mediterranean to North America route, equivalent to a capacity of 1.14 million TEUs, accounting for 13.7% of the entire trade. The company said MSC has been a "key driver", "particularly over the past few months".
Alphaliner added: "To put things in perspective, the European and North American fleet has added 138,100 TEU since June 1, 2021. MSC's fleet growth over the same period was equivalent to 112,800 TEU."
The company said, The growth over the past year "contrasts with the meager 2.4% growth recorded under Maersk's 2 million vessel sharing agreement".
rival Ocean Alliance has seen a relatively impressive trade growth of 8.1%, while its capacity fell by 6.4% following the suspension of its Nordic USEC AL1 loop last August.
However, THEA’s pilot line Hapag Lloyd has increased its transatlantic capacity by 20%, upgrading its five US-flagged vessels deployed on the AL3 loop from 3,230 TEU to 7,320 TEU, according to Alphaliner. box.
There is no doubt that freight rates between Northern Europe and the US East Coast have soared to around $8,000 per 40ft over the past 12 months, which has encouraged MSC and Hapag Lloyd to introduce more capacity to the route.
