City on schedule first day of every month
HUAL TRAVELLER, a vessel in the Norwegian vehicle carrier operator Hual's fleet, is scheduled to dock in East London on September 1 to mark the first port of call in this country of a new service.
The vessel left Houston on July 31, with its schedule taking it to Port Everglades, Jacksonville, Savannah, New York and Baltimore along the US east coast, before sailing for Tema and LomŽ in West Africa, prior to moving south.
It's a great occasion for us and shows the type of new life which has come into the scene at this port, says East London-based Ray Pillay of John T Rennie, which is South African agent for the line.
East London and then Durban are on the regular schedule - with East London destined to be visited by a Hual vessel on the first day of every month, but service will be available to other West and South African ports on transhipment basis.
The new direct service from the US to Africa coincides with the 30th birthday celebrations which Hual is now enjoying. Up to now they have served these African markets through transhipments via Europe, but with growing load factors the company has decided to enter the trade route on a direct call basis, shortening the transit time required by the European leg.
Today Hual is one of the leading operators of specialised ro/ro carriers on deep-sea routes worldwide, annually carrying close to one million vehicles. With a fleet of 40 owned and chartered vessels, the Oslo-based company has transportation contracts with major auto manufacturers in Europe, USA, Japan and Korea, and is engaged in all the major vehicle carrying trades. It is expected that the regular South African calls will also generate new interest with this country's emerging export markets in the automobile industry.
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