In International Shipping News 22/07/2016
AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN
COMPETITIVE TRANSIT TIMES ON ASIA-EUROPE LINE
MSC – HAROPA, PARTNERSHIP OVER 40 YEARS
MSC CRUISES AND LE HAVRE
Source: MSC
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is delighted to have staged the official christening of its containership MSC Sveva, at HAROPA’s Le Havre Port in France. MSC SVEVA is the latest addition to the Oscar Class of containerships, making it among the largest in the world. Released in October 2015 by Korean shipyards DAEWOO, it measures 395.4 meters by 59 meters, has a draft of 16 meters and a capacity of 19,224 TEUs.
Today’s ceremony was attended by Philippe Lestrade CEO of MSC France, Hervé Cornede HAROPA Commercial Director, Gianni Onorato CEO of MSC Cruises, Edouard Philippe Mayor of Le Havre and Deputy of the Seine –Maritime, and also by Sveva, daughter of Gianni Onorato, after whom the vessel is named. The event confirms the unique strengths of HAROPA in being able to host such large vessels within its port complex.
MSC Sveva Christening
MSC is consciously designing its ships to be more efficient and environmentally friendly. Sveva, for example, is LNG ready and is specially equipped with a new generation engine – the G95 – with low fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions. This puts MSC Sveva well ahead of the 2025 compliance regulations for newbuilds in cargo ships, and sits alongside MSC’s other environmentally conscious undertakings, like its $250 million investment in a retrofitting programme to equip and modernise 140 vessels.
MSC SVEVA is operated under the Asia-Europe service. This service directly connects the Asian ports of Dalian, Busan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas in Le Havre – the first port of the northern European stop – and offers very competitive transit times (24 days between Yantian and Le Havre, 28 days to Shanghai). The connections offered by MSC barges between Le Havre and Rouen also allow importers to also have very good transit time, with customs procedures being easier. These river transport solutions are extended across the Seine axis and in particular the port of Gennevilliers, which has a high concentration of import share from Asia.
Since 1933, MSC has chosen to make the port of Le Havre one of its major hub ports in Western Europe. This choice was reinforced in 2011 when the shipping company invested in a new terminal at 1400 meters of quay at Port 2000, partnering with the operator handling terminals Normandy (Perrigault group) in SETO companies and TNMSC. HAROPA plays a key role in the French market for MSC. MSC France – which has 280 employees in its Le Havre office and 560 in France – was among the first customers of the port of Le Havre to Asia and southern Europe, but also North America, South Africa and the Middle East.
Le Havre port is one of the main calling ports of MSC Splendida, who will be cruising North Europe this coming Autumn. This port also has a strong meaning for MSC Cruises, a subsidiary of MSC. MSC Cruises is the largest private cruise company in the world, based in Switzerland and a leader in Europe, South America and South Africa. The company announced on February 1st that its new flagship, MSC Meraviglia – which is currently under construction on the site naval STX in Saint-Nazaire – will be christened in Le Havre on June 3rd 2017. It will then be positioned in Marseille for its inaugural season in the Mediterranean.
Next year’s event will coincide with Le Havre celebrating the 500th birthday of its town. MSC Meraviglia will be the first new generation vessel that is part of the investment plan of € 9 billion, which extends until 2026. As this next flagship, 20 ships of the MSC Cruises fleet will have been built on STX shipyards in Saint Nazaire. MSC Cruises will have brought in France an export turnover of around 7 billion Euros and 70 million hours of work, more than 3000 fulltime equivalent jobs for 12 years. This plan reinforces the MSC Cruises position as the first private investor for large export contracts in France
Source: MSC
