CSAV Norasia’s ABS folds into MSC’s Tiger

   The liner shipping company CSAV Norasia’s Asia-East Med Sea ABS service will become a part of Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s Asia-East Med Tiger Service beginning with the Feb. 1 sailing of MSC Luciana from Beirut.
   The merged joint service will sail weekly, operating with 10 vessels averaging 13,401 TEUs. All 10 ships are operated by MSC.
   CSAV Norasia is a subsidiary of Chile’s CSAV group which has progressively been forming joint services with Asia-Med partners MSC and CMA CGM on a number of trades.
   The new Tiger/ABS port rotation is Beirut, Istanbul, Piraeus, Jeddah, Salalah, Singapore, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Singapore, Jeddah and Beirut.   
   The previous CSAV Norasia ABS rotation, operated with 10 ships averaging 4,829 TEUs, was Istanbul, Piraeus, Beirut, Jeddah, Singapore, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Singapore, and Istanbul.   
   An added express inbound call at Busan for MSC’s Tiger Service substitutes one on MSC’s Asia-Europe Lion Service, which also serves the Med-Asia trade eastbound.
   Meanwhile, in North Europe the Lion Service has dropped calls to Le Havre and Hamburg. Beginning with the Feb. 7 sailing of MSC Ravenna from Bremerhaven the Lion Service’s new port rotation is Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Gioia Tauro, Singapore, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Chiwan, Sines (Portugal) and Bremerhaven. — ComPair Data, Kathleen Tyson