MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), launched two new dedicated Intra-Asia services: SEAGULL and PERTIWI, according to the company's release. The former service offers a direct connection from Thailand to China's main ports, as well as to Singapore and Malaysia, with competitive transit times. The latter supports Thailand-to-Indonesia exporters with added efficiency and flexibility.
Previously, with no direct calls, China-bound containers from Thailand had to rely solely on the process of transhipment: cargoes headed south to Singapore on a feeder before heading north to China on a mother vessel. While transhipment is a useful process that allows customers to access MSC's worldwide service network, it comes at a cost—including longer transit times and proneness to delays and port congestion.
The SEAGULL service provides a direct link from Laem Chabang to China's main gateway ports, including Shanghai, Ningbo, and Xiamen, with transit times of 10, 12 and 14 days respectively. The first sailing to follow this route departed from Laem Chabang on December 3. In addition, the SEAGULL also provides direct connection from Laem Chabang to Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Penang and Pasir Gudang with competitive transit times of 3, 4, 6 and 9 respectively.
SEAGULL calls at Laem Chabang weekly, operating as a butterfly service on the following rotation:
Shanghai – Ningbo – Xiamen – DaChan Bay – Vung Tau – Laem Chabang – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Penang – Pasir Gudang – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Laem Chabang – Vung Tau – Shanghai
The PERTIWI service is MSC's first ever service to offer a direct connection from Laem Chabang to Indonesian ports.
PERTIWI is a weekly service that links North China and Korea to South-East Asia. Its service rotation is:
Busan – Qingdao – Incheon – Dalian - Tianjin Xingang – Vung Tau – Laem Chabang – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Panjang – Jakarta – Singapore – Tanjung Pelepas – Busan