SWISS-ITALIAN Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is going it alone in the east-west trade, now that its co-operation with Maersk in its old 2M alliance fades into history.
The Geneva-based MSC, the world's largest container line, said as of February 2025, it will provide an independent, competitive, and complete network for east-west trades, reports Bloomberg.
'As msc assumes full operational control of its network, we will offer our clients routing options both via Suez and the Cape of Good Hope, featuring a total of 34 loops across five key trades,' the shipping line said.
Soren Toft, MSC's chief executive officer, and former chief operations officer at Maersk, stated that the carrier would navigate unstable shipping markets independently.
'We want to be standalone,' Mr Toft told Bloomberg. 'We will be in charge of our own destiny, so that we can provide the speed, agility and decision making to our clients that we want.'
Toft also dismissed concerns of overcapacity and falling freight rates.
'If you look at our order book, this is also a signal to our clients that we believe in shipping,' he said.
'We are a shipping company. We are ordering assets that will be in our fleet for the next 25 to 30 years,' he said, noting that this new network will offer MSC clients 'a lot of direct port pairs' and 'a lot of choice.'
Alphaliner has reported that MSC has grown to operate 853 ships with a capacity of more than 6 million standard cargo containers - its fleet equivalent to about 20 per cent of global shipping capacity.
SeaNews Turkey
The Geneva-based MSC, the world's largest container line, said as of February 2025, it will provide an independent, competitive, and complete network for east-west trades, reports Bloomberg.
'As msc assumes full operational control of its network, we will offer our clients routing options both via Suez and the Cape of Good Hope, featuring a total of 34 loops across five key trades,' the shipping line said.
Soren Toft, MSC's chief executive officer, and former chief operations officer at Maersk, stated that the carrier would navigate unstable shipping markets independently.
'We want to be standalone,' Mr Toft told Bloomberg. 'We will be in charge of our own destiny, so that we can provide the speed, agility and decision making to our clients that we want.'
Toft also dismissed concerns of overcapacity and falling freight rates.
'If you look at our order book, this is also a signal to our clients that we believe in shipping,' he said.
'We are a shipping company. We are ordering assets that will be in our fleet for the next 25 to 30 years,' he said, noting that this new network will offer MSC clients 'a lot of direct port pairs' and 'a lot of choice.'
Alphaliner has reported that MSC has grown to operate 853 ships with a capacity of more than 6 million standard cargo containers - its fleet equivalent to about 20 per cent of global shipping capacity.
SeaNews Turkey
