PIL adds ships on China-Africa service

The Singapore shipping operation Pacific International Lines (PIL) has just acquired four more ships to add to its multipurpose service (MPS) fleet on the China-Africa trade. Adding the four 17 500-ton deadweight (dwt) breakbulk vessels brings the fleet size up to six, with the main loading ports of Xingang, Dalian and Shanghai, with Bata in Equatorial Guinea and Lagos in Nigeria as the discharge ports – and other ports served on inducement. “We are hoping that SA shippers will take advantage of this service and allow us to start calls at Durban and Richards Bay,” Ivan Naik, MD of PIL SA told FTW. The ships’ cranes have a lifting capacity of up to 220-tonnes, and that, Naik added, gives them the capability of handling the transportation of project cargoes and individual heavy lifts – like transformers, generators and yachts. “We resumed this breakbulk service in March,” said Naik, “in response to strong customer demand for the transportation of project shipments between China and Africa.”