MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company (MSC) is adding China port calls in Shanghai and Ningbo to its weekly Asia to Africa (Africa Express) service that it launched in late April.

The rotation is also being extended from 10 to 11 weeks through the addition of an extra ship. The service will now use eleven 4,000- to 4,250-TEU vessels.

The revised port rotation is Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou-Nansha, Shenzhen-Chiwan, Singapore, Port Louis, Lagos-Tincan, San Pedro, Abidjan, Ngqura (aka Coega), Singapore and back to Shanghai.

Shanghai and Ningbo were so far connected to the Africa Express through transshipment at Chiwan and Singapore, with connections to the intra-Asia legs of MSC's Far East-Europe loops, reported Alphaliner.

The first sailing from Shanghai is scheduled to depart on August 1 using a chartered 4,252-TEU ship, the ER Yantian.