The cash-flush position in which the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) finds itself clearly knows no bounds, with news out of Singapore this morning that the line run by Soren Toft, erstwhile CEO of Maersk, has added another batch of vessels to its fleet of second-hand vessels.
The amount paid for the three additions to MSC’s rapidly expanding fleet is unclear, but it was confirmed that the ships are the Conti Canberra, Conti Darwin and X-Press Kanchenjunga.
Respectively the two Conti vessels are capable of carrying 5 618 TEUs each, while the Kanchenjunga has capacity for 2 702 twenty-foot boxes.
The two Contis once again confirm MSC’s appetite for risk as both ships were built in 1999.
The latest acquisitions mean that MSC now has a slot capacity of 4.47 million, putting the Swiss-run line well ahead of its nearest competitor, former global leader by capacity – Maersk.
News of the latest acquisitions comes soon after it emerged that MSC had taken ownership of the entire stock of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei SpA, an Italian tug firm with brand representation in Malta, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway, Greece and Colombia, in addition to Italy.
Apart from the recent news that MSC will be adding an airfreight division to its stable, it has also been announced that the line has been handed a concession to run a terminal at the Port of Walvis Bay.
Since embarking on its aggressive fleet expansion drive in 2020, MSC has, to date, widened the gap between itself and Maersk to more than 200 000 TEUs.
