News / MSC boosts capacity and switches hubs on South Asia services

MSC is rebooting its hub operations for the ocean trades in and out of South Asia, industry updates suggest.

The world’s largest container line is gradually switching its transhipment calls in Sri Lanka from Colombo to Hambantota Port (HIP), a new harbour developed by China Merchants Port Holdings.

MSC has replaced a regular call at Colombo with HIP on its Far East-South Africa Ingwe service, featuring an updated rotation of Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo-Shenzhen (Shekou)-Singapore-Port Louis-Ngqura-Durban-Port Louis-Hambantota-Hong Kong-Tianjin-Qingdao.

The carrier has also added a 12^th vessel to the rotation “to enhance capacity and service reliability”.

Industry sources said the port substitution would “cement MSC’s position in Asia-South Africa trade”, a corridor on which the Geneva-based liner has increased capacity in recent years, and follows a series of ad-hoc sailings at HIP to “test the water”.

In April 2024, HIP, primarily designed as a multipurpose cargo gateway, launched container operations by hosting a call from the MSC Ingrid. At the time, CMPort said: “With MSC’s collaborative partnership, HIPG will now look at expanding our investment in equipment and other infra-structure facilities, enabling us to service larger vessels on the east west shipping route.”

HIP embarked on multiple expansion projects to support regular calls from major container services, including $108m  on harbour crane upgrades this year, claiming the expansion would almost double HIP’s box capacity, to 2m teu annually.

“HIP’s location, just 10 nautical miles from the main east–west shipping route, positions it as a reliable and efficient option for shipping lines seeking minimal deviation and operational stability,” the Chinese conglomerate said.

Meanwhile, Colombo Port has been under capacity pressure for some time, due to additional transhipment demand stemming from geopolitical disruption. Volumes reached a new high last month of 776,261 teu, from 761,096 teu in April, as Middle East-related diversions continued, according to the latest data.

Competition for transhipment volumes out of the subcontinent region remains fierce, as new port developments take hold in India: Adani Ports’ Vizhinjam is already operating at full capacity, with its phase 2 expansion advanced in order to cope with projected demand.

Vizhinjam also had record monthly throughput last month, handling 130,863 teu, data shows.