MALAYSIA's MISC Bhd has scrapped its Straits-Middle East Halal service and the Malaysia East Asia (MES) service, the last of its intra-Asia services in late February.

Alphaliner reports that the moves come as MISC prepares to make a final exit from its entire container shipping operations by June.

It said the carrier has been operating the Halal service with three 4,500-TEU vessels since last September when its port rotation was shortened to call at ports in Singapore, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Mundra, Colombo and Port Kelang.

It said the East Asia leg of the Halal service was integrated in its MES service and deployed three 1,700-TEU ships on a port rotation of Singapore, Port Kelang, Shanghai, Busan, Qingdao and back to Singapore. The three vessels used on the MES are owned by MISC, but are likely to be sold.

As for the three ships deployed on the Halal service, which have been sublet from Cosco, they are to be delivered to the Chinese shipping company soon.

At the end of January MISC suspended its Philippines Feeder Service (PFS) that was originally launched in May 2007 to connect Port Kelang and Singapore with Manila and Davao. The PFS was temporarily suspended in 2010 and later recommenced in January 2011, on a revised port rotation of Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Davao, Port Kelang, returning to Singapore. By October port of calls at Ho Chi Minh City and Port Kelang were dropped and a stop at Jakarta was added.

The service used two chartered ships, the 957-TEU Elena and the 966-TEU MedBay, which have already been removed from the fleet.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News