News / Zim aims to strengthen Indian trades with deepsea VSA with MSC

Israeli carrier Zim is attempting to raise its sagging service profile on Indian trades with a new strategic alliance with MSC.

According to sources at Zim India, vessel-sharing plans taking shape include launching a direct weekly service from West India to the US east coast.

“We have a direct service plan from Nhava Sheva and Mundra ports for North America,” one Zim sales executive told The Loadstar. “Specifics are still being worked out.”

MSC has two sailings a week for India-US trades, the Indus and Indusa.

On India-North America trades, Zim’s presence has been confined to a transhipment route out of Colombo, in Sri Lanka, as part of its Asia trade network, for some time.  Known as Zim New Frontier (ZNF), the independent relay loop includes calls at Laem Chabang, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Salalah, New York, Norfolk and Savannah.

Additionally, from February, the carrier is set to join MSC as a slot partner in the latter’s updated Asia-America connection, revamped with a Colombo call, on the eastbound leg.

Zim calls it Z7S (Zim Seven Stars), with a declared round-voyage rotation of Singapore, Laem Chabang, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, Suez Canal, New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Suez Canal, Colombo and Singapore.

However, Zim India sources were non-committal about an imminent return to Suez Canal transits, despite announcing that shorter route for Z7S.

“Our standalone east-west network in addition to our existing Asia export services will provide unmatched continental trade connectivity with Asia through a vast array of loops, competitive transit times and a high frequency of direct port calls,” claimed MSC in a customer advisory.

Colombo is a key intermediate point for Indian transhipment trade, especially in and out of the southern corridor around Chennai, which is historically hamstrung by mainline connectivity problems.

From a broader industry perspective, MSC’s Colombo call additions seem to have other underlying “terminal play” significance, as the service expansion has been designed to coincide with the expected start of Adani Group’s container terminal project in Colombo, known as CWIT.

Adani recently took delivery of the first batch of five cranes to be deployed at the site, with phase 1 operations targeted to go live in Q1 25.  The project is critical to Colombo’s ability to handle growing transhipment demand.

MSC has strategic ownership interests in Adani Ports’ terminals at the Indian ports of Mundra (west coast) and Ennore (east).  And there is speculationthat MSC is  looking to consolidate its terminal investments and replicate the tested business model at more Adani locations, as the industry increasingly pursues integrated supply chains.

Ironically, Adani’s newest Indian project, at Vizhinjam, is characteristically meant to drive a reverse migration of transhipment volumes passing through Colombo.  Alongside the Colombo boost, MSC has also extended its Jade and Dragon services that cover Asia-Europe trades to Vizhinjam, debuting the launch of weekly mainline connectivity out of the deepwater harbour, claimed to be Asia’s first semi-automated container terminal.

“MSC uses a lot of ‘ad-hocism’ in covering Indian trades, often deploying feeders to relay cargo on the back of dedicated terminal advantages,” one industry observer told The Loadstar.  “So, it remains to be seen how both MSC and Adani will play their long-term business strategies in the region.”