Carriers speed up Europe/West Africa/South America service
A joint service of Lykes Lines, Compania Sud Americana de Vapores, Montemar, TMM Lines and Senator Lines connecting northern Europe to West Africa and the East Coast of South America will be sped up in frequency from 11 to 8 days, effective next month.
Calls at Lisbon and Lagos on this service will be dropped, while current alternate direct calls at Abidjan and Tema will be replaced by regular calls at Abidjan, connecting to Tema and Lagos by feeder.
“Abidjan will see the most dramatic improvement,” said Lykes’ senior vice president Tony Bruno
The change of frequency is expected to allow a substantial increase in capacity on this service without the introduction of additional vessels.
The direct port rotation of the multi-trade service will become Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Las Palmas, Dakar, Abidjan, Zarate, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Santos, Rio De Janeiro, Fortaleza, Rotterdam.
The new regular direct call at Abidjan will also permit an improved southbound connection to ports in South Africa for Lykes, which interconnects its Europe/West Africa and North America/West Africa/South Africa services at the hub of Abidjan.
The news of the changes in the Europe/West Africa/South America service comes a week after P&O Nedlloyd announced its withdrawal from the Europe/West Africa, citing “political uncertainty and over-tonnaging.”