A strong table grape export season paved the way for Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to adjust its South Africa-North West linking service to the Port of Cape Town for January and February.
This was confirmed by Zane Godwin, commercial executive for MSC.
According to Fresh Plaza, the Eastern Cape Express will be renamed the Western Cape Express and will replace the Port of Gqeberha with Cape Town.
It follows a season that began with robust production forecasts of 79.4 million 4.5 kg-equivalent boxes, slightly up on the previous year, driven by harvests from regions such as the Northern Provinces, Orange River, Olifants River, Berg River and Hex River.
Early volumes exceeded last year’s figures by 15-20%, Fruit Today reported in December.
The change is intended to shorten transit times to north-west European ports, including London Gateway and Rotterdam, and will affect shipments originating from South Africa during this period.
The first vessel to operate under the revised service will be the MSC Tania.
The updated service rotation will run from Walvis Bay to Cape Town, then onward to San Pedro, London Gateway, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Le Havre.
According to the carrier, the adjustment is designed to improve schedule efficiency on this corridor during the early 2026 export window, including for temperature-controlled cargo.
