MOL adds capacity on Asia service

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has just announced an upgrade to the Asia-East Coast South America (CSW) service – but has rather quietly dropped its westbound calls at the deepwater port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape. From July through 2012, MOL will launch a total of 10 new 5 600-TEU capacity containerships, and replace the currently operated vessels. Also effective this July, the line is to assign an additional ship to CSW – and increases its fleet size to 13 ships. Along with the fleet expansion, MOL will begin chartering space to a consortium of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line), Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), and Pacific International Line (PIL). The new CSW service rotation (13 ships, 91-days turnaround), with Ngqura westbound now missing, is: Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Pusan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Sao Francisco Do Sul, Santos, Rio De Janeiro, Cape Town, Ngqura, Singapore, Hong Kong and Xingang.