Safmarine fleet renewal programme kicks in

JOY ORLEK
EXCITING TIMES lie ahead for Safmarine in 2004 as its fleet renewal programme kicks into gear.
For the first time since its acquisition by the AP Moller-Maersk Group, the line will take delivery of the first of three new vessels built in Germany for the Europe - West Africa service in May this year.
“The vessels have been specifically built for that trade and signify Safmarine’s long-term commitment to the West Africa route,” Antwerp-based marketing executive Victor Shieh told FTW in Johannesburg last week.
For South African shippers, the fleet upgrade programme will climax in 2005, when the replacement of its ‘Big Whites’ takes centre stage.
And here the new vessels have been clearly designed to satisfy the changing needs of reefer shippers.
The two larger, faster vessels to operate on the Southern Africa
Europe Container Service (SAECS) will be delivered in January 2005.
They will be purpose-built for the trade, equipped with plugs capable of accepting integral reefer containers, replacing the current blown air (Conair) reefer system. The vessels will be built at the Group’s Lind¿ shipyard in Denmark.