 MSC deploys megamax ships (again) on Transpacific |
Source |
American Shipper |
Post Date |
08/31/2026 |
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MSC has announced a swap of ports between two Transpacific services, while significantly upgrading the deployed fleet with megamax container ships of up to 23,600 teu.
The calls at Haiphong and Oakland on the Far East - US West Coast Sentosa service will be transferred to the Pearl loop on the same trade. In exchange, the latter will cede its Xiamen call to Sentosa. While adjusting port rotations, MSC is more importantly phasing in megamax container ships on the Sentosa service, which currently operates with ten ships of 13,800 - 16,600 teu.
Presently deployed on the Far East - Indian subcontinent Shikra service, the first jumbo ship to join Sentosa will be the 23,656 teu MSC NELA. She will commence her new duty on departure from Port Kelang on 21 August and will also be the first ship on the service to call Xiamen.
Five other 19,000 - 23,600 teu vessels are scheduled to join her in the following weeks, complemented by three further vessels that have yet to be nominated, as well as by the smaller 14,036 teu MSC LIVORNO already deployed. The revised rotation will thus serve, on a weekly basis: Port Kelang, Laem Chabang, Cai Mep, Yantian, Xiamen, Long Beach, Busan, Ningbo, Singapore, Port Kelang.
Launched in June this year, the Pearl service was from the outset mainly staffed with units of around 5,000 teu. Here too the carrier is increasing the capacity of the loop, standardising the deployed fleet upwards with 8,000 teu vessels, about 60% larger. The 8,010 teu GREENLAND will on 21 August start the first Pearl voyage following the revised rotation, which reads Yantian, Long Beach, Oakland, Haiphong, Yantian. The service is expected to be staffed shortly with seven units of 8,000 teu to maintain a weekly frequency.
MSC is opportunistically adding capacity on a trade driven by hefty freight rates. Container shipping globally saw an early peak season in June this year, and some trades have since either stagnated or turned downwards. The exception is the Transpacific trade from the Far East to both North and South America. On Friday 14 August, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) quoted China to the US West Coast at USD 6,714 per feu, a 3.50% increase week-on-week and a 160% increase on the USD 2,586 per feu recorded in late April.
Spot freight increases have been almost uninterrupted over the 16 weeks since, at an average of 6.1% per week. The pace is nonetheless easing as this weeks gain runs at little over half that average. It is not the first time that MSC is sing megamax tonnage to the US West Coast. In June 2020, the Port of Los Angeles realized a then record call siz e of 34,263 teu when working on the 23,656 teu MSC ISABELLA
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