MSC sets out solo offer as alliances reconfigure
Starting in February next year, the container shipping giant will no longer be part of any alliance on the east-west trades
In addition to its massive fleet, MSC has also secured access to extra capacity on the Asia-Europe trade through a slot-sharing agreement with Ocean Network Express, HMM and Yang Ming. The latter three are forming the new Premier Alliance with the departure of Hapag-Lloyd early next year
MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Co, the world’s largest container carrier, has announced it will independently operate its east-west network starting in February, as its 2M grouping with Maersk is set to disband.
Meanwhile, MSC has also formed a slot exchange co-operation with the new Premier Alliance of smaller rivals — Ocean Network Express, HMM and Yang Ming — to increase exposure on Asia-Europe trade lanes.
The move comes as the Geneva-headquartered line has actively expanded its fleet in recent years, now accounting for nearly 20% of global capacity. Analysts had anticipated it was capable of operating mainlanes without an alliance.
The three members of The Alliance, which are losing their largest partner Hapag-Lloyd early next year, have also responded to earlier concerns over insufficient scale by unveiling their new 2025 products.
MSC’s newly announced network covers five trades with 34 loops, including seven loops for Asia-North Europe and six for Asia-Mediterranean, while Premier Alliance offers seven and five strings of services, respectively, on these two shared trades.
Additionally, MSC’s services include four loops for Asia-North America West Coast, six for Asia-North America East Coast, and 11 for the transatlantic trade.
On Asia-Europe and Asia-NAEC, optionality of weekly services via the Suez Canal or Cape of Good Hope are offered, the carrier said. Most vessels currently opt for rerouting around Africa due to Red Sea disruptions.
“With the addition of select slot swap agreements we will provide complete coverage across all East/West routes,” said chief executive Søren Toft.
“Furthermore, as we assume full operational control of our network, we can today offer clients both Suez and Cape of Good Hope routing options.
“This announcement represents an important milestone in the evolution of our global network and the vision of MSC’s founding family.”
MSC operates 853 ships totalling 6.1m teu. It also has the largest orderbook among carriers at 1.8m teu over 131 ships, according to Alphaliner.
In comparison, Premier Alliance’s combined 416-ship fleet totals 3.5m teu, with around 800,000 teu on order. ONE contributes over half the capacity.
In addition to Asia-Europe, the ONE-led trio will launch 11 Asia-USWC and five Asia-USEC services starting February, plus five Asia-Asia-Middle East/Red Sea loops. Their new transatlantic services will be announced separately.
“Many of the rotations listed are based on routing via the Suez Canal. While we continue to closely monitor developments in the Red Sea, ONE will update and announce the rotations routing via the Cape of Good Hope in the coming days,” said ONE.
Meanwhile, the industry also awaits new offerings from Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini Cooperation, which is also slated to begin operations next February.
