MSC’s big ships ‘here to stay’

With Mediterranean Shipping Company having increased the capacity of its Europe-SA service by deploying the two 8 000-TEU containerships – MSC Maeva and MSC Lucy – for the first time on the trade route, the question doing the rounds is: Are the MSC big ships here to stay? When the Port of Ngqura was being built – and Transnet was talking about the intention of marketing it as a transhipment hub for mega container ships possibly serving SA and other trades which bypass southern Africa – it was debated whether any of the lesser trades (like SA itself) would ever justify such giants. It was felt that there were infrastructure and market constraints on the sheer size that would call in SA.But, soon after the first SA docking of the MSC Maeva in Durban in November, the biggest ship in the Hamburg Sud fleet – the 7 100-TEU capacity Santa Clara sailing the Asia- SA-East Coast South America trade – also started calls in Port Elizabeth and Durban. And finally, with the addition of the MSC Lucy, time seems to be telling a different story on constraints on very large container ships (VLCS) in SA. However, some doubt was cast on the MSC contribution to the issue. International freight reports indicated that the two 8 000-TEU boxships had been displaced from the carrier’s East-West loops by the introduction of 14 000-TEU ultra large container ships (ULCS) – and were looking for a new home. But would that be SA? “It is not yet known if these 8 000-TEU assignments are only temporary or whether they are part of a long term plan,” said a report by Alphaliner. Glenn Delve, marketing director of MSC in Durban, told FTW we could put our money on the ships being here to stay. “It’s definitely a long-term plan,” he added.