Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will extend its Zephyr service into the Red Sea by introducing calls at King Abdullah Port and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, while dropping Salalah from the service, according to DynaLiners.
The revised service will continue to connect Colombo and Djibouti, with the addition of the two Saudi Arabian ports expanding MSC’s coverage in the Red Sea region.
Alongside the revised port rotation, MSC will significantly increase the capacity deployed on the service. The existing fleet of four vessels averaging around 4,800 TEUs will be replaced by seven larger vessels, each with an approximate capacity of 16,000 TEUs.
Under the revised arrangement, the Zephyr service will operate on the following rotation: Colombo – Djibouti – King Abdullah Port – Jeddah – Colombo
The fleet upgrade represents a substantial increase in deployed capacity, while the addition of King Abdullah Port and Jeddah will strengthen MSC’s connectivity to key Saudi Arabian gateways and enhance its presence in the Red Sea trade corridor.