MSC now with no UK call to ECSA

   The liner shipping company Meditrranean Shipping Co. has now dropped all calls to the United Kingdom on both its services to the east coast of South America from North Europe.
   Its Europe-ECSA1 loop has withdrawn a direct call at Tilbury, subsituting it with a dedicated feeder link to Bremerhaven. At the same time this average 5,784-TEU weekly loop has cut back from eight to seven ships, reducing round trip time from 56 days to 49 days. CSAV, Libra-Montemar, Maersk Line and Safmarine take slots on this service.
   The new port rotation of Europe-ECSA1 is Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Sinnes, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Rio Grande, Navegantes, Santos, Sepetiba, and Antwerp.
   MSC has a second, smaller North Europe-ECSA service, the seven-ship Europe-ECSA2 loop, averaging 2,883 TEUs, which also makes no U.K. call. This loop is jointly provided with CSAV whose subsidiary Libra takes slots. Its rotation is Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Lisbon, Santos, Vitoria, Navegantes, Paranagua, Santos, Salvador, Las Palmos, and Rotterdam. — ComPair Data, Kathleen Tyson