Safari fleet rejigs

A SECOND-OWNED vessel has now been added by P&O Nedlloyd to the
nine-vessel Safari fleet which offers a dedicated weekly, name-day service between South Africa and the Far East.
The Nedlloyd Clarence joins the Nedlloyd Colombo, and replaces a Mitsui OSK Line vessel in the fleet.
We actually increased the size of the fleet from eight to nine at the end of last year, says Peter Odendaal, g.m. East West Trades for P&O Nedlloyd SA. There is therefore no change in numbers as the withdrawal of the Mitsui vessel and the introduction of the Clarence keeps the fleet figure at nine.
The Nedlloyd Clarence sailed on her maiden voyage from Hong Kong on January 13 and is scheduled to arrive in Port Elizabeth on February 17.
The Safari weekly service will in future also include calls in both directions at Port Kelang, Malaysia and west-bound calls only at Colombo.
Both the Nedlloyd Clarence and Nedlloyd Colombo have capacities of 2 000 teus.
The newcomer, however, is designed to be more 40-foot container-friendly, which is an advantage given the high flow of CKDs from the Far East to South Africa, says Odendaal.