Global ocean carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has launched two new dedicated Intra-Asia services: SEAGULL and PERTIWI. 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.
Asia: A Booming Trade Region
Thailand is one of the world's foremost manufacturers of highly sought-after goods, such as automotive parts, electronics, plastics, crops, and livestock, exporting to key trading partners such as China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Consequently, Intra-Asia exports play a significant part in the Thai economy.
"Committed to supporting the Thai market, MSC recognises the importance of having a comprehensive and effective Intra-Asia service network. For this reason, we decided to invest more in this region, starting with the SEAGULL and PERTIWI services as our first few significant steps," said Mr. Vandamme.
To China in 10 Days with SEAGULL
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.
"To meet our customers' growing demand for cargo shipments to China, we recently launched the SEAGULL service, which 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," said Mr. Viroj.
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.
Direct Connection to Indonesia with PERTIWI
With the fourth largest population in the world, comprising more than 276 million people, Indonesia is one of the largest and most dynamic economies in the Asia Pacific.
Ms. Rungruedee reveals, "As a destination, Indonesia is attracting more and more attention from our Thai exporters. Before the launch of PERTIWI, however, cargoes from Thailand had to undergo the transshipment process at the Port of Singapore before heading to Indonesia."
"To improve flexibility and agility of our service offerings, we decided to introduce the PERTIWI service, MSC's first ever service to offer a direct connection from Laem Chabang to Indonesian ports, whose first sailing took place early last July."
For more information:
MSC GENEVA
Tel.: +41 227038888
[email protected]
MSC ROTTERDAM
Tel.: +31 102178600
[email protected]