MSC omits Seattle from its Eagle Service

MSC GULSUN containership

MSC has announced that it will be temporarily omitting the Port of Seattle from its Eagle service due to increased waiting time for vessel berthing brought on by the ongoing congestion crisis.

The omission from the service, which connects Asia to North America, will be effective from week 43 with vessel Akinada Bridge, voyage 5N in the hopes to enhance schedule reliability.

The full rotation for MSC’s EAGLE service is now as follows; Kaohsiung (Taiwan) – Xiamen (China) – Yantian (China) – Ningbo (China) – Shanghai (China) – Busan (South Korea) – Vancouver (US) – Yokohama (Japan) – Busan – Kaohsiung.

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) specifically mentioned Seattle in its October 2021 market update, stating “the Port of Seattle continues to struggle with long waiting times of 28 days.” This comes as the supply-side of the logistics industry continues to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and capacity shortages as container availability and air capacity remain tight, waiting times for vessels outside of ports remain lengthy, and warehouse capacity continues to be a bottleneck.

Previously, MSC has chosen the Port of Oakland to be the first call in its Sentosa Service which aims to connect Oakland with ports in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Announced in October 2021, the new service allows cargo owners to avoid the congestion crisis which is currently worsening in southern California.

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