Alternatives available when Samba service ends

The intended closure of the Maersk Line ‘Samba’ service, directly linking South America and the Middle East via the Cape of Good Hope, has little impact on SA shippers, according to Maersk Line MD, David Williams. While it does affect cargoes travelling between the Middle East and West Africa via Namibia, both services, he added, will have alternative options. The Samba service currently connects Jebel Ali, Walvis Bay, Vitoria, Itajai, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Santos, Salalah, and Jebel Ali. “It basically doesn’t suit market requirements,” said Williams. From the January closure of the service, the South America-Middle East link will be replaced by a transhipment service out of Algeciras. This revised Samba service will connect the east coast of South America (ECSA) with the Middle East and West Africa at Algeciras, using ships on the Europe- ECSA L-Class service. The rotation of this service will be shortened with calls at Rotterdam, Thamesport and Bremerhaven being discontinued, and the new rotation becoming Algeciras, Dakar, Montevideo, Itajai, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Santos, and back to Algeciras. This will effectively offer three weekly sailings from ECSA to Europe. The West Africa connection via the port of Walvis Bay, meantime, will have the alternative of sailing transhipment on the weekly Middle East-SA (Mesa) service. This has a port rotation of: Durban, Cape Town, Salalah, Jebel Ali and Nhava Sheva. Walvis Bay-bound cargo will be routed by a feeder service from Durban.