MSC to call at Charleston, South Carolina until 2017

THE South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA) and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have signed a new agreement for the world's second-largest container carrier to continue calling at the Port of Charleston until 2017.

The South Carolina State Ports Authority is focused on bringing new business and jobs to the state, said SCSPA chairman David Posek. This agreement does both.

The new agreement affectively adds five more years to the existing contract between MSC and the SCSPA, lengthening its commitment in Charleston to 2017.

This signals MSC's confidence in Charleston's ability to handle their needs now and well into the future, said SCSPA sales vice president Fred Stribling. We enjoy a strong, productive relationship with MSC, and we anticipate a growing MSC presence in the Port of Charleston.

This comes as Charleston, a deep water port on the South Atlantic coast, routinely handles MSC vessels of 6,700 TEU. The first phase of a new, 280-acre container terminal is slated to open in 2014 at the gateway facility, and the port is expected to also enjoy navigational and operational advantages in light of the expansion of the Panama Canal that is underway.

From the port MSC offers services to the west Mediterranean, South America, Caribbean, Africa and Europe. In March, MSC opened a new, 45,000-square-foot South Atlantic headquarters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

 

Source: Schednet