MAERSK Line has assured Australian and New Zealand shippers its OC1 service to/from East Coast North America will remain unchanged following MSC’s withdrawal as a slot-charterer.
MSC last week announced it will launch a standalone service, labelled Eagle, on the route in early February 2026 and accordingly has given Maersk the obligatory six months’ notice of cancellation of the current slot-purchase arrangement.
Filings with the US Federal Maritime Commission show MSC buys from Maersk a total slot allocation of 525 TEU or 8,400 tonne per OC1 voyage northbound or 7,350 tonnes per vessel voyage southbound, whichever is used first (average weight 16.0 tonnes per TEU northbound and 14.0 tonnes per TEU southbound), including 100 reefer plugs roundtrip.
This total allocation is split as follows: (a) from the US Atlantic Coast to ANZ, a maximum southbound allocation of 275 TEU or 3,850 tonnes (whichever is used first) and to the US Atlantic Coast from ANZ, a maximum northbound allocation of 275 TEUs or 4,400 tonnes (whichever is used first), with the allocation in each direction to include 100 reefer plugs; and (b) from Colombia/Panama to ANZ, a southbound allocation of 250 TEU or 3,500 tonnes (whichever is used first) and to Colombia/Panama from ANZ, a northbound allocation of 250 TEUs or 4,000 tonnes.
A Singapore-based Maersk Asia Pacific spokesperson told DCN: “We confirm the termination of the slot charter agreement with MSC on the Oceania - US East Coast service, effective 21 January 2026.
“Maersk has been the sole vessel provider and operator for this service, and our ability to serve customers on this route is unaffected. We will continue to operate the service as-is, with 11 deployed vessels and the existing proforma rotation.
“Maersk remains committed to supporting our Oceania customers.”
OC1 was a partnership between Maersk and Hamburg Süd until the latter was acquired and then absorbed by the former. As well as MSC, Hapag-Lloyd also buys space on the service.
MSC is also planning to deploy 11 ships on the route, expected to be c.3,500 TEU. OC1’s 11 vessels range from 3,028 TEU to 3,752 TEU.