Africa Service News

Hamburger Lloyd is selling the two widebeam containerships, RHL Constantia (IMO-No. 9495765) and RHL Calliditas (IMO-No. 9495777), to Hapag-Lloyd AG. Hamburger Lloyd will remain responsible for the technical management and crewing of the two freighters. With the purchase of the Constantia and the Calliditas, Hapag-Lloyd AG is expanding its fleet to a total of 17 units in the 4000-6000 TEU ship segment. The RHL Calliditas has already been deployed as a charter vessel for Hapag-Lloyd in the Swahili Express / Gulf India Africa service since 2019.

The German shipping company United Heavy Lift (UHL)  Hamburg has taken over a modern Heavy Lift fleet of nine eco-friendly F900 newbuildings.The vessels each have a cargo capacity of 14,100 dead-weight tonnes and are capable of lifting loads of up to 900 tonnes. Being built in 2018 and 2019, most of the nine vessels have only just hit the water. They are sailing under the Portuguese flag.“Our mission is to expand our company’s position as front-runners for an eco-friendly Heavy Lift shipping industry. The fleet of nine newbuilding F900 vessels is a perfect match for our sustainability policy. Reducing the overall carbon footprint of our fleet while expanding the number of our vessel available to our customers, is our goal.

SAL Heavy Lift, a carrier specializing in sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo,  announced that it will expand its fleet with three heavy lift vessels with 800t lifting capacity in early 2020.The three vessels - “MV Hanna”, “MV Klara” and “MV Lisa” - will come to serve breakbulk and heavy lift clients on world markets via SALs well known Semi-Liner Service, but will also potentially offer new service options.When the new year 2020 dawns, SAL will see its fleet expanding with three vessels - an addition that aims to strengthen its semi-liner service and underline SAL as a leading player in the heavy lift and project cargo segment.

German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is continuing to focus on the growing market in East Africa, where annual growth rates of approximately six percent lead the African continent.In April 2018 Hapag-Lloyd launched the East Africa Service (EAS), its first dedicated service to East Africa. The weekly service sails from Jeddah to Mombasa, and from there to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, and directly back to Jeddah. The service will be expanded in September with a weekly connection to and from Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

In a continued effort to provide our customers with reliable and efficient service, CMA CGM Group will upgrade its service offering connection India and Middle East to East Africa., said press release from the company.Starting 17th August 2018, the group will offer a new product to East Africa whilst combining NOURA 1 and NOURA 2 former rotations.Strengths of this new offer is one direct service serving 6 ports of call in East Africa range.Revised port coverage as follows: Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mogadishu, Longoni, Beira (1/2), Port Victoria, Khor Fakkan; Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mogadishu, Longoni, Nacala (1/2), Port Victoria, Khor…

Hapag-Lloyd celebrated the official opening of its new office in Tema, the most important port city in Ghana. Beginning immediately, Hapag-Lloyd will manage all its activities in West Africa from this location. “I’m very pleased that our enhanced presence in West Africa is showing initial signs of success,” said Anthony Firmin, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hapag-Lloyd. “Our West Africa Express (WAX) service from and to West Africa has been operating with extraordinary success for several years and is very well received by customers. With our new East Africa Service (EAS), connecting Saudi Arabia with Kenya and Tanzania, we have entered another new trade. The GDP of West Africa has grown significantly in the last two years, rising by an average of 6 percent.

German-based Hapag-Lloyd opened a new office in the Ghana port city Tema, on February 1, 2018. Effective immediately, the company will be represented at the local level by its own customer service staff. “Africa is strongly developing just now. To benefit from this growth, it’s important for us to strengthen our presence in Ghana with our own office – and to get even closer to our local customers,” said Lars Christiansen, Senior Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd’s Region Middle East. West Africa has recorded significant growth in the last two years, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by six percent on average. Among Ghana’s most important export goods are cocoa, timber products and cashew nuts.

Ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd will commence a new weekly service between the Port of Jeddah and the east coast of Africa in April. With the East Africa Service (EAS), the liner shipping company will be calling at the ports of Mombasa (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) for the first time. These will be connected to Hapag-Lloyd’s existing global network via the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah, as the central hub of the region. Hapag-Lloyd will initially deploy four vessels, each with a capacity of 1,200 TEU, in the EAS. The fast-growing economies of countries in East Africa further inland from Kenya and Tanzania, which lack their own seaports, are also likely to benefit from this new offer, as it will give them improved access to the global market.

CMA CGM announced a significant improvement of its product from Montreal, Canada to Africa West Coast strategic markets.   Starting May 6th, 2017 with the opening of the new service Med Canada, CMA CGM will connect Montreal cargo to West Africa with our 6 EURAF services via the hub of Tangiers. Transit times will be shortened up to 12 days. Apapa will be reached in 25 days   Angola, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo on EURAF 5 and Gabon, Equatorial Guinea on EURAF 4 will continue to be connected on St Laurent service.

The Mawingu Express, Maersk Line's direct service from India to Kenya, offers the fastest transit times in the market and better port coverage to bring business closer to East Africa. "Through our global connections coupled with superior customer care and market expertise, we serve as the perfect partner to realise your business ambitions in the region," says a statement from the company. • Mombasa - Benefit from our direct service the Mawingu Express which has the   fastest transit time. • Dar es Salaam - We load on the Mawingu Express and then do an easy transhipment in Salalah via our Masika Service with competitive transit times. • Port Sudan and Djibouti – We do transhipments in Jebel Ali or Jeddah and connect to our dedicated Horn of Africa Service.

The Mawingu Express, Maersk Line's direct service from India to Kenya, offers the fastest transit times in the market and better port coverage to bring clients closer to East Africa, claims the company. "Through our global connections coupled with superior customer care and market expertise, we serve as the perfect partner to realise your business ambitions in key markets in East Africa faster than ever before," says the statement. • Mombasa - Benefit from our direct service the Mawingu Express which has the   fastest transit time. • Dar es Salaam - We load on the Mawingu Express and then do an easy transhipment in Salalah via our Masika Service with competitive transit times.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said it has adjusted coverage on its South Africa service with the introduction of a weekly direct call at Hazira, in addition to Nhava and Mundra. MSC’s updated India-South Africa service port rotation is as follows: Salalah - Jebel Ali - Bin Qasim - Mundra - Nhava Sheva - HAZIRA - Colombo - Port Louis - Durban - Coega - Salalah. The South Africa service operates with six vessels with vessel capacity of up to 5,400 TEU. The first MSC vessel to call Hazira will be MSC Valencia IZ 611, expected to arrive April 9, 2016.

Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co SA has expanded the port rotation of its India-South Africa service by introducing a direct call at Hazira, a privately-operated cargo complex on India’s west coast, in an attempt to pick up additional hinterland cargo. Hazira Port, which is about 120 nautical miles north of JNPT, is operated by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, India’s biggest port infrastructure developer. "MSC would like to inform customers that we have strengthened our coverage on our South Africa service with the introduction of a weekly direct call at Hazira in addition to Nhava and Mundra," says a statement from the company. The South Africa service, operates with six vessels with vessel capacity of up to 5,400 TEU.

Starting in March, NileDutch, the container carrier specialized in connections to and from West Africa, will upgrade its services from Europe to West Africa by operating two loops. Antwerp - Le Havre - Leixoes by rail to Lisbon - Lisbon - Algeciras - Tanger - Pointe Noire - Luanda - Lobito - Namibe - Abidjan - Tanger - Antwerp. A new service to Dakar and Abidjan will provide extra loading ports. Dunkerque - Tilbury - Antwerp - Dunkerque - Le Havre - Montoir - Tanger - Algeciras - Dakar - Abidjan - Dakar - Algeciras - Dunkerque.

Hapag-Lloyd will restructure and further enhance the dedicated West Africa Service Network, the company said in its press release.   Effective mid of March 2016, existing weekly West Africa Express Service (WAX) will be upgraded by deploying an additional vessel, which will enable us to extend port coverage in the existing product.   With the restructured service, Hapag-Lloyd will have a direct Apapa call on the southbound leg, as well as a Tangier call on the northbound leg providing connectivity to the comprehensive, global service network of Hapag-Lloyd.   Following the upgraded service chart and rotation: West Africa Express (WAX): Antwerp • Hamburg • Algeciras • Dakar • Tema • Abidjan • Antwerp

NileDutch, the container carrier specializing in West Africa, is setto introduce a new service to link the East Coast of the U.S. with West Africa and Europe. The rotation will start in New York and the service will run every nine days. The first vessel, the MV Cafer Dede will sail on February 16, 2016. According to the shipper, the new development aims to meet the growing demand from exporters in the East Coast of the U.S. for better access to their markets in West Africa. The new service will be operated by NileDutch in cooperation with Turkon Line.

As part of our objective to continually improve our services to customers, MSC is delighted to announce an upgrade to its Angola Express service with a first sailing of the MV Nikolas from Rotterdam on 18th September 2015. MSC will deploy six vessels with a nominal capacity of 2,000TEU on its new look service, which includes new ports in NWC, namely Rotterdam, Antwerp and Bassens. The new service now also includes a direct call from Casablanca to destinations in West Africa. Port Rotation: Rotterdam-Antwerp-Bassens (Bordeaux)-Sines-Casablanca-Las Palmas/Las Palmas-Conakry-Luanda-Dakar-Rotterdam

Worldwide shipping firm the CMA CGM Group announced plans to upgrade its services joining Europe to Africa, altering its EURAF 1, EURAF 2 and EURAF 4 services with the goal of providing a more complete service offering to Africa, North Europe and the Mediterranean. The EURAF 1 service, that connects North European to West African markets, will add a call at London Containers Terminal – Tilbury each week. This new call will directly join the United Kingdom to Africa, and the service will provide competitive transit times allowing the export of banana Reefer containers from West Africa to England. The inaugural call of the rotation in Tilbury took place on August 10. Algeciras used to be called only once on the previous rotation.

CMA CGM to improve its ASEA service between Asia and East Africa with the launching of ASEA Kenya and ASEA Tanzania. The CMA CGM Group’s Asia-East Africa (ASEA) service upgrade is scheduled to begin December 2014 with the launch of two new services. ASEA Kenya and ASEA Tanzania, will now accompany East African markets’ growth and replace the ASEA one single service, reducing transit times from Asia and improving reliability, the company said. CMA CGM intermodal and logistics solutions will connect African land-locked countries to Asia.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) announced the restructuring of its existing Asia to South Africa liner services into two direct loops. One service will call South China, while the other loop will directly connect Central China. The newly restructured loops will further strengthen MOL’s service network from Asia to South Africa, while continuing to meet increasingly diverse commercial requirements, the company said. The jointly operated South China Loop and Central China Loop services will commence from Kaohsiung on October 9, 2014 and Shanghai on October 15, 2014, respectively.

The UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport and Wimbledon MP, Rt. Hon. Stephen Hammond MP has paid a visit to DP World London Gateway to congratulate the team on their success. During Hammond’s last visit in January 2013, the port had only just started to install the first of its yard cranes. Since opening in November 2013, DP World London Gateway has seen a continued increase in ship traffic and is due to see a new West Africa service start in a few weeks. During the winter…

MOL Liner Ltd. (MOL), Evergreen Line and COSCO Container Lines Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of a weekly direct service from Asia to West Africa, branded the WA1. The new express link will further enhance each company's service network to cover strategic markets in Africa to meet increasingly diverse commercial requirements. The jointly operated 12-vessel service will commence from Shanghai on June 2, 2014, with six of the ships being operated by MOL, four by Evergreen Line and two by COSCON.

The CMA CGM Group announced the improvement of its ASAF service which will deploy 12 vessels of 5,700 containers (TEU) in direct service to West Africa starting May 9, thus becoming the first carrier with vessels of this capacity to call West Africa directly, the company said. With the 5,700 containers (TEU) vessels calling West Africa in direct service, the CMA CGM Group said it confirms its ambition to reinforce its offer in the area and to support the economic development of the country. The ER Canada, the first 5,700 containers (TEU) vessel operated by the CMA CGM Group to call West Africa on the ASAF service, will arrive at Walvis Bay (Namibia) on May 9, Pointe Noire (Congo) on May 14 and Luanda (Angola) on May 17.