The shipping company MSC gives a new boost to transatlantic connections from Northern Spain, and more specifically, from the port of Bilbao, with the launch of a direct export container service that connects with the port of Halifax, in Canada, with a transit time of approximately two weeks.
Thus, the Canada Express Service calls at Bilbao as the last port on the Peninsula before heading to Northern Europe, and embarking on the journey to North America, after a stop in the British Isles, calling at the port of Felixstowe.
The company, which foresees other important developments in the near future, gains space for its direct transport, avoiding congestion and transshipments. Another novelty in this service is that, starting from week 52, the ships will also call at the port of Vigo. Specifically, it will be the MSC Yang R, with a capacity of 3,800 TEUs and measuring 257 meters in length by 32 meters in beam, the first to perform the complete export rotation from the ports of Málaga – Sines – Vigo – Gijón – Bilbao – Felixstowe – Antwerp – Le Havre – Montreal – Halifax and return to the Peninsula.
MSC maintains several regular services from the port of Bilbao and some of the main milestones in the Biscayan dock are theirs. Recall that the container ship Cezanne, with a capacity of 9,971 TEUs, 300 meters in length, 48 in beam and 94,730 GT, set the record that had been held since 2008 by the vessel MSC Candice, which was 337 meters in length and 46 meters in beam, with a capacity of 9,178 TEUs. More recently, in 2022, the MSC Roberta arrived at the port of Bilbao, one of the largest container ships to have called at this port since 2017, with a capacity of 4,339 TEUs, which is the size that MSC aims to reach for its calls in Bilbao in the near future
MSC assures that, with unbeatable transit times and guaranteed space and equipment on all departures, this new route from the shipping company “is the ideal solution” for exporters in northern Spain looking to expand their business and trade relations with the Canadian market.
