Mediterranean Shipping Co. is reintroducing a trans-Pacific service to the US East Coast that had been suspended in 2022, the second service the carrier has reinstated on the trade lane this year as Asia-US ocean freight rates have surged and Panama Canal restrictions have eased.
MSC said Wednesday its Liberty service to the East Coast will resume with the departure of the 4,432-TEU MSC Houston V from Singapore on Aug. 8. Along with Singapore, other Asia load ports include Shanghai and Busan. The US port rotation includes Miami, Savannah, Charleston, Philadelphia and New York-New Jersey.
MSC said in a statement that “ongoing robust demand in the trans-Pacific market” prompted the reintroduction of the Liberty service, with the loop’s new call at Philadelphia “responding directly to current market demands.”
The Liberty service had previously been run jointly with Maersk under the 2M Alliance. Introduced during the pandemic, MSC and Maersk suspended the service in late 2022 due to the sharp drop in ocean freight rates during that year.
This will be the second trans-Pacific service MSC has restored this year. In June, the carrier reintroduced its Mustang service with a port rotation that includes China’s major ports and Long Beach. The Mustang service had previously called Portland on the US West Coast.
Liberty’s reinstatement comes as the Panama Canal’s transit and draft limits have eased following the return of seasonal rains that have filled the reservoirs for the canal’s locks. The canal handled an average of 29 ships per day in June, up from an average of 22 in January.
Despite having the largest order book among ocean carriers, MSC has deployed most of its new ships to the Asia-Europe trade in response to strong demand there and the longer voyage times around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. According to Bespoke Maritime Data Services, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, MSC has deployed just two newbuild, 7,900-TEU ships on its trans-Pacific Emerald service to the US East Coast, the MSC Cotonou VIII and the MSC Tema.
Other carriers also added trans-Pacific capacity as rates from Asia surged in recent months. Zim Integrated Shipping Services began offering a premium shuttle service to Los Angeles along with another Asia service to Vancouver. Cosco Shipping and OOCL have also launched services to Long Beach and Vancouver.
Wan Hai Lines has also relaunched its AA1 service into Long Beach, while HMM restarted its PN3 service to the Pacific Northwest. Niche carrier Hede International has also introduced a feeder-size service to the US West Coast.
Source:
Angell, M. (2024, July 24). MSC restores Trans-Pacific Liberty Service with new call at Philadelphia. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/msc-restores-trans-pacific-liberty-service-new-call-philadelphia_20240724.html