Asia – West Africa service starts with three vessels

ALAN PEAT SA AGENTS for the new South-East Asia-SA-West Africa service launched by Asiatic Shipping are Durban-based Hull Blyth. The line has started the service with three vessels – Commandante, DD Success and Great Blossom – and is offering sailings every 20 days on a port rotation of: Belawan-Port Kelang-Durban-Lagos-Tema-Durban-Belawan-Port Kelang. “Durban will be the feeder transhipment port for Luanda, Matadi and Pointe Noire,” said Hull Blyth’s Leigh Walker. “At the other end of the service, Port Kelang will be the hub for cargoes from Dubai, Mumbai, Thailand and Vietnam.” Asiatic Shipping intends to upgrade the service to four-to-five vessels in six-months time, he added, and increase the service frequency. “The line was started in late 2001 to provide cost-competitive, complete logistics solutions to shippers in SE Asia and the Far East,” Walker told FTW. “Today, Asiatic has established its name in the shipping world running regular liner services from the main ports in SE Asia and the Far East to the Indian sub-continent, Umm Qasr (Iraq), Middle East, and Africa. The London parent of Hull Blyth, meantime, adds its own established muscle to the new service – having been operating in West Africa for 150 years. The Durban office is now being run by Walker and his partner, Phillip de Haaf.