MSC and Maersk have finally confirmed the structural suspension of one of their 6 joint 2M Asia – North Europe loops, the ‘AE1 / Shogun’. This suspension will not have an immediate effect on the trade, since all of the loop’s sailings from China had already been successively cancelled since early December. With the service suspension now made permanent, MSC and Maersk have announced changes to the 3 other loops of their Far East – North Europe network. The ‘AE1 / Shogun’ is the first big alliance service in the Far East – North Europe trade to be officially closed since the Chinese export volumes started plummeting in September. It’s closure comes at a time when MSC is taking delivery of 5x ‘megamax’ newbuildings. Due in March and April, these 24,000 TEU ships have prompted the carrier to upsize a number of loops with bigger tonnage. In a remarkable move, MSC plans a major capacity injection into the Asia – West Med trade as the carrier relaunches the ‘Dragon’ service (previously part of the 2M network bus suspended in May 2020) as a new standalone loop. The first 5 vessels earmarked for this loop have capacities from 9,000 – 14,400 TEU, rather than the initially planned 7,000 TEU or less tonnage.