MSC adds PNW calls to Med/U.S. West Coast loop

MSC adds PNW calls to Med/U.S. West Coast loop    Swiss liner carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Thursday it is adding calls at the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle and Vancouver to its California Express service between the Mediterranean and U.S. West Coast.
   From Dec. 29, the service will have a rotation of Gioia Tauro, Naples, Civitavecchia, La Spezia, Valencia, Cristobal, Balboa, Long Beach, Oakland, Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland, Long Beach, Balboa, Cristobal and Gioia Tauro.
   Aside from the new calls at Seattle and Vancouver, the loop will also make double calls at Oakland and Long Beach. According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the service is operated with eight MSC vessels with an average capacity of 3,795 TEUs.
   According to ComPair Data, only one other service directly connects the Med and West Coast of North America with no intermediate calls (like the U.S. East Coast), Hapag-Lloyd's standalone six-ship MPS service. Several other services link northern Europe or the Med to the U.S. West Coast, but those are either round-the-world or pendulum services, or call on the U.S. East Coast before transiting the Panama Canal and calling at the U.S. West Coast.