EFL Africa, the Nigerian terminal and barge operator formerly known as ESS Libra, has launched a new Lekki-Onne feeder from 16 August 2024. The feeder service connects the 2 Nigerian ports using the 265 teu BESTAF 1 from Lekki on 16 August 2024. The ship was replaced by the 267 teu TOPAZ BELAYA on 10 October 2024 and will operate on a 4 day frequency.
Hapag-Lloyd has merged its South America – Africa Triangle Service (SAT) with the West Europe-West Africa (WWA) into an extended butterfly pattern covering North Europe-Africa-South America-Africa-North Europe starting from June 2024. The integrated SAT/WWA service will call at Paranagua, Santos, Navegantes, Luanda, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Luanda, Tangier Med, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre, Lisbon, Tangier Med, Tema, Pointe Noire, Luanda, Paranagua turning in 7 to 8 weeks deploying up to 8 ships
X-Press Feeders have launched a new Matadi Shuttle X-Press (MSX) service connecting Pointe Noire, Matadi, Pointe Noire from 24 May 2024. The service operates on an irregular 5 day frequency using 2 ships of 900-1,100 teu - the 917 teu X-PRESS MEGHNA and 1,145 teu SC PHOENIX on a 10 day rolling schedule. The service caters to feeder cargo to Matadi for Main Line Carriers including Maersk and CMA CGM.
X-Press Feeders will introduce a new Pointe Noire-Matadi feeder service from 6 May 2024 with the 1,145 teu SC PHOENIX. The service will turn in 8-10 days with a second ship, the 917 teu X-PRESS MEGHNA to join the service at the end of May to provide departures every 4-5 days.
Maersk and CMA CGM will upgrade their Far East-West Africa service to the 13,300-13,800 teu scale 8 from December 2023, with the launch of the revised FW1/WAX service that will call at Qingdao, Kwangyang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Tema, Lekki, Abidjan, Pointe Noire, Colombo, Singapore, Xiamen, Qingdao. The upgraded FW1/WAX service will start from 5 December 2023 with the 13,302 teu MAERSK EDIRNE and will turn in 13 weeks using 13 ships from Maersk and CMA CG
CMA CGM will add a new Lekki Feeder service that connects Lekki and Cotonou with the 1,736 teu EM HYDRA that will be phased in at Lekki on 15 October 2023.
CNAN Nord has restarted its Algeria-West Africa service to Nouakchott and Dakar with the return of 2 of its 7 ships that have been idle since 2021 and 2022. The 12,645 dwt/665 teu KHERRATA has been deployed on the Alger-Nouakchott line from 24 June 2023 while the 12,161 dwt/842 teu TIMGAD will be deployed on the Algeria-North Europe service with the first call at Antwerp scheduled on 8 August 2023. TIMGAD had been stranded in Belgium since September 2021 and was finally released from detention
The North Europe-West Africa service jointly operated by Hapag-Lloyd/Arkas will be expanded to add a new southbound call at Dakar. The service is branded as the West Africa Express (WAX)/Europe Africa Service (EAS) respectively by Hapag-Lloyd and Arkas. The new rotation will start from 7 May 2023 and call at Antwerp, Le Havre, Tanger Med, Dakar, Tema, Abidjan, Tanger Med, Antwerp. The service turns in 4 weeks and deploys 3 ships of 4,250 teu from Hapag-Lloyd and one 2,500 teu ship from Arkas.
Hapag-Lloyd will launch a new West Africa 1 (WA1) service that connects Tanger Med, Nouakchott, Freetown, Conakry, Monrovia, Tanger Med from 15 May 2023. The new service will be operated on a fortnightly frequency and turn in 4 weeks using 2 ships of 1,700 teu.
MSC has completed the upgrade of its Turkey-West Mediterranean-West Africa (Turkiye-West Med-WAF) service following the extension of its former West Med-Canary-Dakar-West Africa service to Turkey. The upgraded service started from 24 February 2023 with the 5,550 teu MSC CORUNA. The service will turn in 8 weeks and will deploy 8 ships of 4,000-5,500 teu to call at Tekirdag, Derince, Iskenderun, Gioia Tauro, Livorno, Genoa, Fos, Valencia, Las Palmas, Dakar, Abidjan, Tema, Lome, Tincan Island, Lom