News / MSC and CMA CGM service revisions go head to head on the transatlantic

Photo: VesselFinder

MSC is further reorganising its transatlantic network with a revision of its Canada Express service that will see host of calls in Spain this month.

The carrier told customers it would be “the ideal solution for exporters in northern Spain looking to expand their business and trade relations with the Canadian market”.

There also appears to be an element of capturing some intra-European trade between Iberia and Northern Europe, given the way the new port rotation is structured: Malaga-Sines-Vigo-Gijon-Bilbao-Felixstowe-Antwerp-Le Havre-Montreal-Halifax-Malaga; the European component resembling several existing European shortsea rotations.

Currrently, the Canada Express’s only European port calls are Malaga, Sines, Antwerp, and Le Havre.

“The service extension will not only provide exporters from North Spain with a new link to Canada, but also maintain a weekly shortsea connection between the Iberian peninsula and MSC’s major North European hub in Antwerp,” Alphaliner noted this week.

“The Canada Express will, in practice, take over the North Spain-North Europe links previously covered by the NWC to/from Spain and Portugal service, which will be closed.

“The loop’s southbound Antwerp-to-North Spain connections were already shifted to the new Baltic NWC to Spain and Portugal loop, which caters for fruit exports from Agadir in Morocco to Antwerp and St Petersburg, and acts as a Baltic-North Europe-Iberia feeder on the return leg to Morocco,” it added.

In order to retain a weekly schedule on the extended port rotation, MSC has deployed another, sixth, vessel on the Canada Express, but the carrier’s monthly net capacity into Canadian ports is expected to remain at the same level.

In fact, Alphaliner said, the average capacity of the vessels would decline, from 3,300 teu to 2,800 teu, after the new service itinerary becomes effective on 22 December, with the departure of the 3,739 teu MSC YANG R from Vigo.

“Five 2,020–3,740 teu ships have already been assigned to the revised service (average 2,870 teu) and a sixth vessel will be nominated soon,” Alphaliner said.

However, according to the eeSea by Xeneta liner database, capacity on the Europe-Canada trade will substantially increase this month, due to the recent extension of the CMA CGM-led Amerigo service to include a call at Halifax.

The maiden call at the Canadian port was made last week (26 November) by the 7,300 teu CMA CGM Ambition (pictured below), and the introduction of the service to the Canadian market will introduce vessels some 50% larger than any existing transatlantic service to call at the port.

Photo: PSA Halifax

The eeSea database shows that total pro forma capacity at Halifax on transatlantic services this month is 201,000 teu, the highest it has seen since December 2023, with 40 out of 44 calls scheduled (the remaining set to be blanked) – which the highest number of transatlantic calls in a single month since October 2023.

The Amerigo service – comprising CMA CGM, ONE, Cosco and OOCL as vessel providers and Yang Ming and Zim as slot charterers – deploys eight vessels with an average capacity of 6,800 teu.

By way of contrast, previously the largest transatlantic vessels to call at Halifax were on the AL7 service operated by Hapag-Lloyd and Zim, 4,400 teu ships.

“This new service provides our customers with more choices, faster transit times, and a reliable service network between Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Canada, via Halifax, with seamless onward access to Montreal, Toronto, and the US Midwest, via Canadian National Railway’s extensive rail network,” said Duncan Glass, MD of PSA Halifax.