CSAV ties up MSC deal

CSAV ties up MSC deal    Chilean liner carrier CSAV said Wednesday it has cemented a three-year deal with Mediterranean Shipping Co. to partner on a trio of trades from the end of this month.
   The agreement covers services on the northern Europe/West Coast South America, East Coast South America/Mediterranean/Middle East, and South Africa/India/Middle East trades.
   American Shipper reported in early July that CSAV was in talks with MSC and CMA CGM about partnerships on a number of trades.
   Between northern Europe and the West Coast of South America, CSAV and MSC will run a joint service with a rotation of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Caucedo, Cartagena, Cristobal, Balboa, Callao, Puerto Angamos, Coronel, San Antonio, Balboa, Cristobal and Rotterdam.
   The revised loop incorporates calls from CSAV's Eurandes service and MSC's existing northern Europe/Caribbean/West Coast South America service. The services will operate with eight 5,000-TEU vessels, CSAV said, not specifying which carrier will provide vessels. The Eurandes has operated with eight CSAV ships in the 2,600- to 3,400-TEU range. MSC's current loop is run with eight vessels with an average capacity of 4,311 TEUs, though half of the ships are 5,000-TEU vessels.
   On the South America/Med/Middle East trade, CSAV will be joining MSC's two loops connecting Spanish Med ports with the Canary Islands and the East Coast of South America, with 'further connection to Middle East to be confirmed shortly for both loops,' CSAV said.
   According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the first loop has a rotation of Gioia Tauro, Livorno, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Suape, Buenos Aires, Rio Grande, Navegantes, San Francisco do Sul, Santos, Sepetiba, Suape, Las Palmas, Algeciras, Valencia and Gioia Tauro. It operates with eight MSC vessels averaging 5,372 TEUs.
   The second service has a rotation of Valencia, Barcelona, Las Palmas, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Navegantes, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Santos and Valencia.
   According to CSAV, from the beginning of August, the revised rotation will include a second call at Santos. The service has run with five MSC vessels averaging 4,627 TEUs.
   By extending these services to the Middle East, the carriers could potentially rival Maersk Line's newly reconfigured Rumba service (due to start at the end of July), which would be the only service to connect Indian and Middle East ports with South America.
   Incidentally, MSC and CSAV already jointly operate a Europe/East Coast South America loop — the six-ship Brazilian/SAEC2 service, with both carriers providing three ships. CSAV also takes slots on another MSC loop on the same trade, the SAEC1. Those loops primarily connect ports in northern Europe with South America.
   Finally, on the trade between India, the Middle East and South Africa, the two carriers will incorporate calls from two services with similar rotations — CSAV's Marco Polo and MSC's Middle East/Indian Subcontinent service.
   The new joint service will have a rotation of Durban, Jebel Ali, Karachi, Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Colombo and Durban. For CSAV, the Colombo and Mundra calls are new, while a Cape Town call on the Marco Polo is dropped. For MSC, a second northbound call at Colombo is dropped. The service will operate with five vessels averaging 2,500 TEUs, CSAV said. Both existing loops on the trade are run with six vessels with similar average capacities. Again, CSAV didn’t specify which carriers would be providing the vessels.
   Francis Phillips of ComPair Data said the agreement allows CSAV to maintain its brand in these trades for the next three years, as well as secure profits, while it allows MSC to fill larger ships. ' Eric Johnson