Safmarine reroutes Australia-bound cargo

ALAN PEAT THERE’S A new route for Safmarine’s Australian-bound cargo - moving via Asia using the A.P Moller–Maersk network from the latter half of this month (March). Exports bound for the Australian east coast will be loaded on Safmarine’s Safari service, and relayed via Hong Kong to Maersk’s east Australia service – bound for Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Those bound for the west coast will be transhipped at Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia to the west Australia service, with destinations including Fremantle. Transit times from Durban are Sydney – 29 days; Melbourne – 32; Adelaide - 32 (railed from MEB, no direct call); Brisbane – 36; and Fremantle – 21. SA Helderberg’s voyage 0505 on March 17 from Durban marks the first sailing of the new service, while the final sailing of the old is that of MSC America (voyage 0505) on March 31.