Mediterranean Shipping Co is preparing for a post-coronavirus recovery in China with a new programme focusing on essential cargoes.
Its suspension of transit (SOT) scheme is a flexible service that should help to fulfil the imminent resumption of demand from Asia and ensure service continuity, the Swiss company said.
It includes container yard storage in six transhipment hubs across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, ensuring that goods can be shipped close to their destinations as soon as possible and providing easier cargo flow.
MSC will use Bremerhaven in Germany, Busan in South Korea, King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia, Lome in Togo, Rodman PSA Panama International Terminal in Panama, and Tekirdag Asyaport in Turkey.
SOT provides potential cost savings for shippers faced with high warehousing storage costs at destination, demurrage and other charges, it said.
It will also free space at factories and warehouses and avoid excess inventories at sites, bringing cargo closer to destination markets and alleviating the risk of congestion or closure at ports of discharge.
"China has shown signs of recovery with factories restarting production," MSC said.
Green shoots appearing?
"The programme builds on MSC’s ongoing efforts to ensure business continuity and the maintenance of vital container carriage services, such as the movement of food, fresh produce, medical equipment and other essential goods," it added.
It said that while positive signs of recovery have begun to emerge in Asia and factories have restarted production, major ports of destination may still not be ready to discharge containers.
"The lead time will be reduced once operations resume at destination ports, and the programme will also add storage for beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and non-vessel owning common carriers (NVOCCs), who would otherwise reach their full capacity," MSC said.
Liner operators led by Maersk and MSC blanked more than 40 sailings in just a few days at the end of March due to a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus.
The cancellations are being led by the 2M partners who will temporarily suspend two services between Asia and Europe that account for more than 20% of capacity on the trade.
That has pushed up the number of blanked sailings unveiled by liner operators from two to 45 in the week to 29 March, according to Sea-Intelligence estimates.
The 2M partners this weekend announced plans to suspend their AE2/Swan service, which operates between Asia and northern Europe using 23,756 -teu vessels.
They will also suspend their AE2/Dragon service that uses ships of 13,000 teu to 16,650 teu between Asia and the Mediterranean.
