Welcome to the weekly supply chain briefing,Read on for some of the week's biggest stories from the world of freight.
MSC prepares for life after 2M, it continues to strengthen its fleet
As it has widely been predicted Mediterranean Shipping is preparing to leave the 2M vessel sharing alliance. MSC continues to buy second-hand containerships and does not appear to have lost its appetite for ordering newbuilds This expansion is widely believed to be a drive towards being entirely self sufficient and not reliant on alliances to offer global coverage.
It is not known whether MSC’s action will cause the other two alliances - THE Alliance and the Ocean Alliance - to rethink their strategies.
Industry sources report that MSC has just acquired the iconic 9,600 teu Sovereign Maersk, which was chartered by MSC back in 2016 after being sold by Danish carrier Maersk.
At the time of their launch in 1997 they were the largest container vessels in the world.
MSC has acquired 271 second-hand vessels since embarking on an historic buying spree in August 2020, for a total capacity of just over 1.1m TEU.
As a result of the collapse in demand and uncertain outlook, some carriers and shipowners are starting to rethink delivery schedules for vessel new builds ordered during the peak of the pandemic demand boom. Needless to say industry pundits are looking closely at MSC’s strategy of ‘go it alone’.