IN WHAT the carrier describes, with some understatement as a “reshuffle” Mediterranean Shipping Co is bringing wholesale changes to its Asia-Oceania and Australia-SoPac-NZ network.
From late August both MSC’s weekly South East Asia-Australia-NZ services, Capricorn and Kiwi Express, will be suspended, without immediate replacement. Each service currently interchangeably employs 8-9 ships of 2500-4250 TEU and together cover all five Australian container ports, and all seven NZ ports. SEA ports are Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas and Jakarta.
The last Capricorn sailing will be from Singapore on 20 August with the 4253 TEU MSC Manu voyage FC434A, while the last Kiwi Express sailing will be from Laem Chabang on 20 August with the 2824 TEU AS California voyage KE434A. “Please note that for your import shipments to Australia West Coast (Fremantle and Adelaide), we will continue to serve you via Sydney on our Australia Express service, while your export shipments will remain via Singapore,” MSC advised.
There is no mention of what happens to ZIM’s current slot allocation on Capricorn and Kiwi.
At roughly the same time MSC will re-instate the Wallaby designation, for a new China-Australia-NZ service to rotate Hong Kong – Yantian – Xiamen – Shanghai – Ningbo – Sydney – Melbourne – Auckland – Bluff – Lyttelton – Wellington – Napier – Tauranga – Hong Kong. The first sailing is due to depart from Hong Kong on 19 August with the 2732 TEU MSC Tania voyage KN434A.
“The Wallaby service will be enhanced and reinstated as a standalone service, offering you faster and more direct connections between Australia, New Zealand and North Asia,” MSC says. “Moreover, the revised rotation will provide a comprehensive coverage of New Zealand ports, including Bluff, and a seamless connection to our global network via our main hubs in Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai and Ningbo.”
The previous Wallaby, which was MSC’s designation for its slot-swap participation in Maersk’s Dragon, concluded at the end of April 2022 and coincided with an expansion of port calls for the semi-parallel Panda service. There is no mention of Panda in today’s announcement, although the carrier, notably, is downsizing the four vessels it contributes to the eight-ship VSA with ZIM (which designates it ZAX) from 5618-6674 TEU to 3586-4354 TEU.
In a third major move, MSC’s Noumea Express service will be extended to NZ with the addition of Tauranga and Nelson calls, “offering you more options to/from New Caledonia and Fiji”. The new rotation will be
Port Botany – Brisbane – Noumea – Suva – Lautoka – Nelson – Tauranga – Port Botany – Bell Bay – Port Botany, with the extended coverage implying additional vessels will be required; Noumea Express has already been making ad hoc NZ North Island calls.
MSC says the reshuffle of its Asia-Oceania network is aimed at “offering customers operating businesses in China, Southeast Asia and Oceania, fast and reliable services to respond to their needs”.
