MSC eyes 11,000-13,500-TEU ship loops for 2012, say analysts

MSC plans to have three series of eight or nine 12,500- to 13,500-TEU ships, and a series of nine 11,000-TEU class on order for delivery from 2008 to 2011, according to AXS-Alphaliner News.

Swiss-based MSC, the world's second largest container carrier, will be in a position to offer five high-volume weekly loops on the Asia-Med-North Europe sector by 2011-2012, said the French analytical newsletter. These four loops would offer an annual capacity of 3.2 million TEU, it said.

If MSC maintains three more loops with its current 8,000- to 9,600-TEU ships, its capacity would reach 4.6 million TEU, nearly twice its current total on its existing six Far East-Med-North Europe loops.

MSC has increased its capacity 30 per cent in six months on this route, according to a recent AXS-Alphaliner assessment.

"A doubling in volume raises the question of the terminal capacity, at least on the western side of the loops to cope with these huge volumes," say AXS Alphaliner analysts.

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