MSC changes transatlantic service rotation

MSC changes transatlantic service rotation    Ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Tuesday it is rearranging the rotation of its North Atlantic service between Northern Europe and the U.S. East Coast.
   From Aug. 28, the westbound leg of the service will call first at New York from Europe. Previously, Boston was called prior to New York.
   The new rotation will be Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Le Havre, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, New York and Bremerhaven.
   The change could well be an attempt to compete better on transit times with a new Antwerp/New York express shuttle service starting in mid-September from Hapag-Lloyd, which will be joined by its Grand Alliance partners OOCL and NYK Line as slot buyers.
   Hapag-Lloyd said that service would offer a nine-day transit time in both directions. According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the existing transit time from Antwerp to New York on MSC's North Atlantic service is 12 days. From Le Havre, the last outbound port on the MSC service, to New York, transit time is nine days. So by amending the rotation to call New York first, MSC could likely come very close to nine days from Antwerp.
   The carrier didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the change.
   MSC also said it will change the terminal it calls in the Port of New York-New Jersey, from Port Newark Container Terminal to Maher terminal in Newark.
   The North Atlantic service is operated with five vessels, with an average capacity of 4,632 TEUs. MSC operates it without any partners. ' Eric Johnson