Revamped SAECS service adds variety of new weekly options

RAY SMUTS DECISIONS TO make sweeping changes to an existing liner service are not taken lightly but there are cogent reasons for the revamp and upgrade of Safmarine’s second, or intermediate string SAECS service, says the line’s Africa region executive, Alan Jones. “South African exporters battle to get into markets unless they have access to a reliable, weekly shipping service. “We found that our current second string, originally aimed mainly at the automotive industry and reefer exporters, was not being used as much as we had hoped, the reason being that it was not weekly and not even a named-day service.” It became clear that a weekly service for the second string was required, calling at slightly different ports than the six vessels deployed on the core SAECS service between Europe and South Africa, says Jones. The new-look service, for which port rotation will be announced shortly, will deploy seven instead of the current four vessels, the ‘newcomers’ drawn from group resources. “We did exactly this (introducing a second string to the core service) on the Safari service between the Far East and South Africa and have subsequently seen huge overall service improvements.” It is important to recognise that business has become so dynamic that shipping schedules can no longer be cast in stone, says Jones. “Business patterns are changing and we believe the needs of shippers are best served by a combination core and intermediate service. “While the SAECS core service will remain unaltered, the intermediate string is the kind of service you could change after six months if you found business was moving in a different direction.” While SAECS – operated by Safmarine, Maersk Line, Deutsche Afrika-Linien and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) – remains Safmarine’s prime service, growth on the two Safari services is “much bigger as a result of Europe being a mature market compared to the Far East, which is a growing market.” The Safari I and II services are operated by Safmarine, in conjunction with sister company Maersk Line.