MSC merges India-Europe-Mediterranean Services
29 March 2012
Mediterranean Shipping Company will upgrade and combine its existing Indian Subcontinent-Europe-Mediterranean service network operated in conjunction with Shipping Corporation of India, effective in early April.
The Geneva-based ocean carrier said the current services, ISES and I-Med, will be merged into a single loop, deploying ships of 6,500 20-foot equivalent units capacity.
The new ISE port rotation will be Colombo, Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru), Mundra, Salalah, Gioia Tauro, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Gioia Tauro and back to Colombo.
MSC said it would continue to cover the Mediterranean ports via Gioia Tauro. “This will give customers much wider coverage and quicker connectivity to the Mediterranean ports.”
The first vessel in the combined service will be the SCI Chennai, scheduled to depart from Colombo on April 7.
The current ISES rotation is Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Pipavav, Salalah, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Gothenburg, Antwerp, Jeddah and Colombo. The I-Med calls Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, Port Said, Istanbul, Barcelona, Genoa, La Spezia, Gioia Tauro, Port Said, Salalah and Colombo.
