Far East service changes kick in

Maersk Line, and its sister
line Safmarine, as part
of their tie-up with CMA
CGM, have made a number
of changes to the Far East-
Southern Africa (Safari)
and Far East-Mozambique
(M-Express) services,
designed, said Maersk, to
enhance the products.
On Safari, effective from
April 24 ex Shanghai, Cape
Town was removed from
the port rotation, and is to
be added to the FW3 (Far
East-West Africa) service
effective from May 7 ex
Tanjung Pelepas.
In the vessel-sharing
agreement with CMA CGM
on the Safari service, the
French-based line will
contribute one vessel, and
take a 12.5% weekly share
of the service’s capacity
into Durban and Port
Elizabeth.
“The changes to our
Safari service will allow
us to provide an improved
product offering to our
customers,” Matthew J
Conroy, APM Group trade
manager for southern
Africa, told FTW. “Cape
Town will now be the
only port of call on the
SA coast from the Far
East on the FW3 Service.
This will allow our Cape
Town customers to avoid
any disruptions that may
occur as a result of the
refurbishments in the Port
of Durban expected later in
the year.
“At the same time, the
Safari service now offers an
improved eastbound service
for SA exports, leading to a
reduction in transit times of
approximately seven days.”
Conroy also announced
the upgrading of the
M-Express service. “It now
offers direct access into
Malaysia,” he said.
The two lines will enter
into a vessel-sharing
agreement with CMA CGM
and offer a direct service
into South East Asia, with
Mozambique cargo no
longer transhipped via Port
Louis on the route.
As part of the vesselsharing
agreement, the
lines’ current M-Express
service fleet will be
expanded from four 1 700-
TEU capacity vessels to
seven 2 100-TEU capacity
vessels.
With the planned
departure of the Safmarine
Nimba 1206 on May 8 from
Tanjung Pelepas, the new
port rotation will be: Port
Kelang-Tanjung Pelepas-
Reunion-Toamasina-
Maputo-Beira-Nacala-Port
Louis-Tanjung Pelepas.
“M-Express will therefore
offer a direct service
for Tanjung Pelepas-
Mozambique-Tanjung
Pelepas cargo,” Conroy
said, “leading to a more
stable and reliable product.”