Japanese box shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced the launch of new joint services with Denmark’s Maersk Line and Swiss carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) between the major trading hubs of Asia and key ports in East coast of South America.
MOL said its existing service “CSW” will be upgraded into two strategic services to be jointly operated by the three shipping lines “for improved product efficiency, wider connectivity with our existing network over the key transshipment ports and more direct port coverage in Asia and East coast of South America.”
The SW2 will have a port rotation of Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Paranagua, Santos, Coega, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Busan.
The CSW will make regular calls to Chiwan, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santos, Sepetiba, Itajai, Navegantes, Sao Francisco do Sul, Santos, Sepetiba, Cape Town, Durban, and Singapore, and Chiwan.
A total of 22 vessels will be deployed. Maersk Line and MSC will each operate six ships on SW2, and MOL will operate 10 ships on CSW.
The new joint services are expected to start with the first vessel departing from Asia during the first week of July 2015.
In a release, Maersk Line said the Asia-East Coast of South America trade lane is a key route for the transport of electronics and automobile parts, propelling the automobile industry within Latin America. The route also facilitates protein exports from the East Coast of South America to Asia.
“The VSA (vessel sharing agreement) will simplify the network and improve operational responsiveness on the route. It will also enable us to deploy vessels that are better suited for East Coast South America terminal capabilities and continue to optimize utilisation of vessel capacity, providing greater economies of scale.”
The VSA will replace all current VSAs in place on this route, which will expire at the end of June.
