By Mundo Marítimo - February 27, 2023
A huge fleet of super-sized container ships will join the Asia-Europe routes in the coming weeks and months. The many new megamax-class ships are ready, and some almost ready, in the shipyards to set sail, says Alphaliner.
Between mid-March and early April, MSC will add four new 24,000 TEU ships to the Asia-Europe route of the 2M alliance. In addition, OOCL and Hapag-Lloyd have already decided which Far East-North Europe itineraries they will allocate their next megamax flagships to.
Phased introduction of MSC megamaxes
The wave of MSC deliveries will begin on March 14, when the 24,116 TEU “MSC TESSA” joins the ‘AE6 / Lion’ service in Ningbo. Upon delivery, the ship is expected to become the world's largest container ship, if only for a few days.
The 24,188 TEU “OOCL SPAIN” will assume this title on March 18, before handing over the crown to the 24,346 TEU “MSC IRINA”, which will join the Asia-Mediterranean 'AE10 / Jade' service on March 21 in Qingdao.
The first two sister ships of “MSC TESSA” will follow shortly. The 24,116 TEU “MSC CELESTINO MARESCA” will join her sister fleet on the 'AE6 / Lion' itinerary on March 28 in Ningbo, while the “MSC RAYA” will begin her maiden voyage on April 9 in Shanghai for 'AE55/Griffin' service.
Filling these new giant ships could pose a tough challenge for Maersk and MSC as both 2M partners continue to leave blank sails due to weak bookings and a general slowdown in global cargo demand, which has already led to numerous travel cancellations.
OOCL Megamax Introduction
OOCL celebrated last week the ceremony of its new “OOCL SPAIN” in Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS). The 24,188 TEU vessel, the first of twelve sister ships built by NACKS and its sister shipyard DACKS, is the first new build for OOCL since the Hong Kong-based shipping company was acquired by COSCO Shipping Holdings in 2018.
The ship will leave Shanghai on March 18 to join the Far East – North Europe itinerary 'LL3' on March 21 in Xiamen. This third itinerary voyage of the OCEAN Alliance will last twelve weeks, but, due to voyage cancellations, currently deploys a fleet of just seven 14,070 – 21,200 TEU vessels operated by COSCO.
The service calls at Xiamen, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, Piraeus, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Valencia, Piraeus, Singapore, Xiamen.
Hapag-Lloyd megamax fase-in
Hapag-Lloyd recently confirmed that its 23,666 TEU “BERLIN EXPRESS”, the first of twelve German shipping powered megamaxes by GNL, will join on April to the Far East-North Europe of THE Alliance itinerarie, that will call at the Hamburg company base.
This excludes the 'FE2', from April will only serve on Wilhelmshaven (Germany). Deployment on the smaller 'FE1' and 'FE5' itineraries, focused on Japan and Southeast Asia, is also ruled out.
As THEA's 'FE4' is fully equipped with 24,000 TEU vessels from HMM, Hapag-Lloyd's new megamax vessels are expected to join 'FE3', which is currently operated for the mix of 14,600 – 16,010 vessels. HMM and Hapag-Lloyd TEUs.