Safmarine boosts Asia/Africa service
Safmarine will add a second string to its “Safari” service between Asia and Southern Africa, in addition to two new direct services between Asia and West Africa, and between Asia and East Africa.
The start of the second string to the Safari service, effective in the second quarter, will provide twice weekly port calls from Asia to Southern Africa. The service includes five 1,500 TEU ships calling at Port Elizabeth and Durban, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore and Toamasina.
Safmarine said at that time the main Safari string will continue with a total of eight vessels, calling Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Port Louis, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, and back to Tunjung Pelepas and Port Louis.
Starting in December, Safmarine will also add a new weekly Asia/West Africa direct service. The service, comprising nine vessels, will offer direct calls from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tanjung Pelepas into Cape Town, Tema, Lome, Apapa, Cotonou and Abidjan. The liner carrier said its Cape Town calls will be replaced by Walvis Bay calls in February, “reducing the current transit times by a week and offering fast connections to Matadi and Luanda.”
In addition, Safmarine said a new Asia/East Africa direct service, effective in March, will extend its service offering with a direct service from Tanjung Pelepas via Jakarta into Victoria, Dar Es Salaam and Mombasa. “This means a transit of just over 12 days between Tanjung Pelepas and Dar Es Salaam,” the liner carrier said.