MSC starts new service

GENEVA's Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has launched a direct Med-US west coast service, created by merging two separate relay services, the Panama-Med service and the Balboa-USWC Puma service into one.

The newly merged service is being branded the California Express, which will be operated with eight 2,500- to 4,200-TEU ships.

The California Express will replace the existing transhipment service offered through its Panama hubs, reports Alphaliner.

The port rotation is: Gioia Tauro, Naples, La Spezia, Valencia, Cristobal, Balboa, Long Beach, Oakland, Balboa, Manzanillo (Panama), Cristobal, and back to Gioia Tauro.

Transhipment connections to MSC's network will be offered via the hub ports of Gioia Tauro, Valencia, Cristobal and Balboa.

The first westbound sailing departed on September 15.
(Source:www.schednet.com)