Maersk Line said on 19 May that it has entered a vessel sharing agreement (VSA) with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) on the Asia to east coast of South America (Asia-EC South America) trade.
Asia-EC South America is a key route for the transport of electronics and automobile parts, propelling the automobile industry within Latin America.
The arrangement will see 22 ships deployed on a two-loop set-up.
The route also facilitates protein exports from EC South America to Asia.
MSC and Maersk Line will each operate six 9,000 teu vessels on Loop 1. MOL will operate 10 vessels of 5,500 teu each on Loop 2.
The new VSA is expected to start with the first vessel departure from the Far East during the first week of July.
The latest arrangement will replace all current VSAs Maersk had on this route, which will expire at the end of June.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.