Jun.04--GENEVA's Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), already the only carrier with ships of more than 10,000-TEU on the transpacific, has now taken another step in this direction by assigning a new 11,660-TEU megaship to the trade.
    From July, the 9,200-TEU MSC Ines will be replaced by the 11,660-TEU MSC Ivana on the Transpacific VSA Loop 2, jointly operated with Maersk and CMA CGM (TP-8/New orient Express/Bohai).
    The service rotation is Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Oakland and back to Xingang. It is serviced by two 9,200-TEU ships from MSC, and four 8,100 to 8,500-TEU ships from CMA CGM.
    MSC's has already assigned its 11,600 to 13,000-TEU ships to the transpacific Pearl River Express service (PRX), said Alphaliner about a loop jointly operated with CMA CGM, which deploys 9,400 to 9,600-TEUers "alongside the three MSC units - the 13,092-TEU MSC Altair and the 11,660-TEU MSC Luciana and MSC Francesca". 
    The PRX calls at Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Long Beach, Oakland and back to Fuzhou. MSC operates 42 ships of more than 13,000 TEU, together with an additional seven units of between 11,600 and 12,500, said Alphaliner.

(Source:shippingazette)