Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has announced a review of its service network between Asia and Northern Europe, with modifications to three regular routes that affect connectivity, transit times, and market coverage in this trade corridor. The Griffin, Condor, and Silk services will operate with new rotations starting from late March to early April 2026, according to information published by the Swiss shipping company, a world leader in container transport. Of the three, the Condor service is the only one that includes a stop at the Port of Algeciras, which maintains its position as the first European stop of the line heading westbound.
The restructuring is part of the Asia-North Europe network that MSC operates entirely via the route around the Cape of Good Hope, the established alternative to the Suez Canal that major shipping lines have maintained since instability in the Red Sea forced traffic to divert at the end of 2023. The entire network for 2026 includes seven services named Albatross, Lion, Swan, Britannia, Griffin, Condor, and Silk, which connect the main ports of China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India, and Sri Lanka with terminals in the UK, mainland Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic, and, in the case of the Condor service, also Algeciras.
The Condor service, of special relevance to the Campo de Gibraltar, unveils a new rotation that keeps the Port of Algeciras as the first European stop heading westbound (Asia-Europe). The updated sequence of the service is Qingdao, Ningbo, Yantian, Singapore, Algeciras, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, and back to Qingdao. The rotation will take effect with the vessel HMM Oslo, voyage 0019W, whose estimated arrival in Qingdao is scheduled for March 31, 2026. The indicative transit times from Asian origin ports to Algeciras range from 28 days from Singapore to 42 days from Qingdao, positioning the port of Algeciras as a direct entry point for goods coming from northern and southern China.
Heading eastbound (Europe-Asia), the Condor service offers direct connections from Algeciras to the main discharge ports in China, with transit times of 59 days to Qingdao, 63 to Ningbo, and 68 to Yantian. The shipping company describes the service as an efficient connection between northern and southern China and the main ports of Northern Europe, with comprehensive coverage from Asia to Algeciras.
