Canary Islands call could create major new hub

NEXT MONTH sees the launch by the SA-Europe Container Service (SAECS) of a fixed day, weekly call at the Canary Islands, a move which could be the first step towards a possible multi-trade seafreight hub for Safmarine liner services.
The calls by the SAECS consortium - DAL, Ellerman Harrison Container Line, P&O Nedlloyd and Safmarine/CMBT Lines - will be at Las Palmas on the northbound run. Cargo for Tenerife will be transhipped into the southbound SAECS vessel - calling at both ports. However, direct calls will also be made at both ports by the northbound vessel at certain times of the year.
First ship off on the new northbound route will be the Heemskerck (voyage 610) leaving Port Elizabeth March 14; Durban March 17 and Cape Town March 22 - and arriving Las Palmas on April 2.
Inaugurating the southern leg will be the SA Winterberg (voyage 113), sailing from Le Havre on March 19 - then calling Las Palmas (Mar 23), Tenerife (Mar 24), PE (April 3), Durban (Apr 5) and Cape Town (Apr 10).
But there has been talk at the Safmarine Cape Town HQ for some months about the feasibility of linking other services in the Antwerp-based SCL group (Safmarine and CMBT Lines) into a Canary Islands hub.
The logic behind this, according to SCL deputy c.e.o. Graham Peirce, is that the island group has a strategic geographic location to the SCL network.
The multi-trade hubbing concept also ties in to the current focus in the shipping industry upon rationalisation and streamlining.
A service which could benefit from this concept is believed to be the Southern Africa Mediterranean Container Service (SAMCS) where there has been talk of the possibility of the service frequency being speeded up from the present twice-monthly to weekly, using the Canary Islands hub.
Final discussions amongst the members are believed to be taking place as we take this issue of FTW into print.