MSC withdraws megamaxes from Asia-North Europe trade

Monday, 24 March 2025 02:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In what it describes as a “surprise move”, Alphaliner is reporting Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), the world’s largest containerline, has decided to shift all of its 19,200 to 24,300 TEU megamax vessels, currently trading between Asia and North Europe, to the Asia-Med and Asia-West Africa trades.

MSC, which from the start of this month has gone it alone on the main east-west trades, will now deploy ships with an average size of around 14,700 TEU on Asia – North Europe.

“According to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), Shanghai to North Europe rates stood at $ 1,578 per TEU last week, which represents a drop of 44% over the first seven weeks of this year. Reducing capacity on this trade lane could be considered an attempt to reduce pressure on rates,” Alphaliner pointed out in its latest weekly report, noting too that spot freight rates for the shorter Shanghai-West Africa route are much better at around $ 4,000 per TEU.

“The spot rate decline into North Europe is much faster and deeper than the usual seasonality – yet at the same time Asia to Mediterranean is essentially following normal seasonality,” noted analysts at rival consultancy Sea-Intelligence.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.