Terry Hutson
SAFMARINE'S fixed-day container service connecting Southern Africa with the Middle East and South America, appropriate dubbed the SAMBA service (South Africa, Middle East and Brazil, Argentina), was introduced last month with four fully containerised ships. Initially the ships were all Maersk-named vessels but one of
them, Maersk Wellington, was recently transferred into Safmarine service as the Safmarine Amazon while in the Port of Durban.
The 'new' 25 100DWT, fully geared ship was built in 1998 and has a 1 647TEU capacity, with 350 power points for reefer (temperature-controlled) containers.
The latest operation, which is Safmarine's first dedicated service across the South Atlantic, caters for the expanding trade between the East Coast of South America, Southern Africa and the Middle East. The port rotation is Salalah (Oman), Port Reunion, Port Louis, Toamasina (Madagascar), Durban, Santos, Paranagua, Itajai, Rio Grande, Montevideo, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Salalah.
Although the new service is being operated in conjunction with Maersk Sealand, Safmarine is a separately-managed member of the AP Moller Group and markets its shipping services independently from the sister-company.
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