NEW WORLD ALLIANCE ADDS ADEN TO EUROPE/ASIA LINK
New World Alliance carriers APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are adding an eastbound call at Aden, Yemen, to their northern Europe/Asia CEX container service, effective from January.
The CEX service will call at Southampton, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Aden (eastbound only), Singapore, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai. Westbound, the service also calls at Colombo.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said that the addition of the Aden call opens the way for future transhipment opportunities in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.
Aden, like the neighboring port of Salalah in Oman, has a new container terminal that aims to become a transshipment hub for the region.
Earlier this year, the New World Alliance ended a direct call at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the CEX service. There is no plan to resume calls at Jeddah.
In a related development, the New World Alliance is switching the eastbound call at Colombo from the CEX service to the AEX loop, another north Europe/Asia service of the alliance.