MSC South Africa/Mauritius ships set record

MSC South Africa/Mauritius ships set record    Mediterranean Shipping Co. is to introduce 8,000-TEU vessels to ports in South Africa and Mauritius, which would be the largest vessels to call the countries, according to a note this week from maritime news service Alphaliner.
   The Swiss line's MSC Maeva and MSC Lucy, which have joined MSC’s Far East/South Africa Cheetah service in the last two weeks, will call at Port Louis and Durban. That breaks the previous record, also established by MSC with 6,700-TEU ships.
   'These 8,000-TEU ships have been displaced from MSC’s east/west loops through cascading triggered by the deliveries of MSC’s 14,000-TEU class units, of which 16 have already been delivered,' Alphaliner said. 'It is not yet known if these 8,000-TEU assignments are only temporary or whether they are part of a long-term plan. MSC used to deploy ships of 4,000-6,000 TEUs' on the Cheetah service.
   According to American Shipper research affiliate ComPair Data, the standalone Cheetah service has operated with seven vessels averaging 4,320 TEUs (not accounting for the introduction of the two larger ships). It has a rotation of Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Singapore, Port Louis, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Port Louis, Singapore and Xiamen.
   ComPair Data shows that the Maeva was most recently deployed on MSC's Tiger service, which connects the Far East and Med, while the Lucy was not attached to any service. Both are listed as having 8,034 TEUs of capacity.