Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is pursuing a solo East/West trade network after its former alliance partner, Maersk, progresses with its Gemini Cooperation alongside Hapag-Lloyd.

The Geneva-based MSC, the world's largest container line, said as of February 2025, it will provide an independent, competitive, and complete network for East/West trades.

MSC noted that the future standalone network will replace the current 2M VSA agreement that MSC has with Maersk.

"As MSC assumes full operational control of its network, we will offer our clients routing options both via Suez and the Cape of Good Hope, featuring a total of 34 loops across five key trades," the shipping line said.

MSC's chief executive officer, Soren Toft, stated that the ocean liner would navigate unstable shipping markets independently and hinted at ruling out forming a new alliance just months before the end of its 2M alliance deal with Maersk.

"We want to be standalone," Toft told Bloomberg. "We will be in charge of our own destiny, so that we can provide the speed, agility and decision making to our clients that we want."

Toft also dismissed concerns of overcapacity and falling freight rates.

"If you look at our order book, this is also a signal to our clients that we believe in shipping," Toft, who has been MSC chief executive since 2020, said in the interview, according to Bloomberg.

"We are a shipping company. We are ordering assets that will be in our fleet for the next 25 to 30 years," he added, noting that this new network will offer MSC clients "a lot of direct port pairs" and "a lot of choice."

"We believe that this will offer ourselves and our clients the best flexibility that we possibly can," Toft further said.

MSC earlier announced a new network plan from February 2025 that aims to give its customers greater flexibility to adapt to global events, such as the current rerouting of ships via the Cape of Good Hope or the Suez Canal due to the unrest on the Red Sea.

The system will operate five routes: Asia-Mediterranean, Asia-North America West Coast, Asia-North America East Coast, Asia-North Europe, and the transatlantic network. To increase flexibility within these trading lanes, 34 loops will be added.

MSC announced that weekly services via Suez, with more than 1,900 port pairs, or the Cape of Good Hope, with more than 1,800 direct port pairs, will also be optional.

"We are delighted to reveal our future standalone East/West network for all clients. Customers will benefit from MSC's unmatched connectivity and direct corridors, coupled with consistent high quality of service," Toft said in the statement.

"With the addition of select slot swap agreements, we will provide complete coverage across all East/West routes. Furthermore, as we assume full operational control of our network, we can today offer clients both Suez and Cape of Good Hope routing options," he added, noting that this also signals an important milestone in the evolution of the shipping line's global network.

"The 2025 East/West network and its options will not impact the tonnage or deployment for any other routes provided by MSC globally," MSC said.

MSC also announced a slot exchange cooperation with the Premier Alliance in Asia composed of HMM, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming.

The cooperation will be effective from February 2025 onwards and will cover Asia-to-North Europe and Asia-to-Mediterranean trades.

Alphaliner has reported that MSC has grown to operate 853 ships with a capacity of more than 6 million standard cargo containers — its fleet equivalent to about 20% of global shipping capacity.