|
MOL,
Evergreen Line and Cosco are launching a
weekly direct service from Asia to West
Africa, branded the WA1, to meet the increasingly
diverse commercial requirements in Africa.
Meanwhile,
the French shipping giant CMA CGM is continuing
to flex its muscles in the West Africa trades
by adding capacity to its ASAF service by
deploying 12 containerships of 5,700 TEU.
In
so doing, it has become the first carrier
to use ships of this size to call directly
at West Africa ports.
The
joint MOL, Evergreen Line and Cosco WA1
service operated with 12 vessels has commenced
from Shanghai since June 2. Six of the ships
are provided by MOL, four by Evergreen Line
and two by Cosco.
The
port rotation for the WA1 service is Shanghai
(Mon-Mon), Ningbo (Tues/Wed), Hong Kong
(Fri/Fri), Guangzhou-Nansha (Sat/Sat), Singapore
(Thurs/Thurs), Lagos Apapa (Mon/Thurs),
Tema (Fri/Mon), Lome (Mon/Fri), Abidjan
(Sun/Wed), Singapore (Mon/Mon) and back
to, Shanghai (Mon/Mon).
Its
launch coincided with the arrival of the
first ship operated on the ASAF service
at Walvis Bay, Namibia on May 9, which reached
Pointe Noire in Congo on May 14 and Luanda,
Angola on May 17.
This
comes as the CMA CGM has been ramping up
its presence on the continent since the
beginning of the year, acquiring a 25 per
cent stake in Nigeria's Lekki Terminal.
The
group launched two new services during this
period, including a feeder to Mozambique
ports; and the Noura Express, a new service
linking the world with Somalia through its
hub in Khor Fakkan.
It
also opened two new offices in Mauritania,
in Nouakchott and Nouadibhou; and opened
a new office in Maputo, Mozambique, as well
as two new offices in Madagascar, in Tulear
and Antsiranana, bringing the number of
offices in Madagascar to eight.
Additionally,
CMA CGM has upgraded its east coast South
America-West Africa SAMWAF service.
The
world's third largest carrier has announced
an upgrade on its SAMWAF service with direct
calls at South America east coast and West
African ports from the end of May.
The
upgrade will bring to the service larger
vessels and add two new calls in Lome in
Togo and Rio in Brazil.
The
new structure offers a wide range of connection
opportunities through local feeders, barges
and transshipment to:
Montevideo
and Asuncion via Itaja and Ivory Coast,
Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and other African
destinations are available via its Lome
hub.
Inland
transport is also provided by integrated
intermodal solutions, being the SAMWAF service
the gateway to connect the Brazilian and
African markets.
The
new service configurations are settled in
two stages:
Phase
1: From the end of May to August: CMA CGM
shares allocation on 2,500 TEU NileDutch
vessels.
Phase
2: From August: CMA CGM Group and NileDutch
will enter into vessel sharing agreement.
Four 4,250-TEUers will be operated, of which
two will be from CMA CGM and two fron NileDutch.
The
service, that provides bi-monthly departures,
will rotate through Buenos Aires, Rio Grande,
Itaja Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Lome, Pointe
Noire, Luanda and back to Buenos Aires.
|
