ACL, Mediterranean Shipping stop transatlantic slot exchange
Atlantic Container Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. have terminated their long-standing slot-exchange agreement in the transatlantic container trade.
Under the agreement, Mediterranean Shipping had 100 TEUs a week on the north Europe/U.S. North Atlantic/Canada service of ACL, in return for ACL taking 100 TEUs on MSC’s north Europe/U.S. North Atlantic and North Europe/U.S. South Atlantic/Gulf services.
Andrew Abbott, chief executive officer of ACL, said that the space swap agreement had “a very small allocation split over multiple services that was hard to manage.”
ACL and MSC will still cooperate on an ad hoc basis, rather than with a fixed weekly allocation, he told American Shipper.
MSC did not say why it stopped the fixed slot-exchange agreement.
Asked how MSC would continue to serve the ports of Halifax, Gothenburg and Liverpool — which feature as direct calls on ACL’s service — the Swiss carrier said that it would make alternative arrangements.
ACL continues to take space on several transatlantic services operated by other carriers, including the South Atlantic and Gulf services of the Grand Alliance and CP Ships.