Hamburg Süd said it will replace its current service between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean through a slot-charter agreement with Hapag-Lloyd’s MGX service.
The German carrier said the change will improve the frequency of service while maintaining the present coverage of ports in the Mediterranean, the Gulf Coast of Mexico and the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States with very competitive transit times.
The new integrated Mediterranean Mexican Gulf Express will be operated with six ships of 3,200 20-foot equivalent units capacity on the following port rotation: Cagliari, Livorno, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Port Everglades, Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, New Orleans, and back to Cagliari.
The first sailing of the MMGX service will be the Barcelona Express, sailing Livorno on March 2, subject to Federal Maritime Commission filing approval.
Hamburg Süd said it will change its Intra-Caribbean network as of Feb. 15, when its Intra Caribbean Feeder service will be upgraded to two vessels.
The two vessels will call on a weekly fixed-day basis at Cartagena, Puerto Limon, Santo Tomas de Castilla, Kingston, Rio Haina and back to Cartagena.
Simultaneously, Hamburg Süd will open a new weekly service connecting its hub in Cartagena with Barranquilla (Colombia) and San Juan (Puerto Rico). The service will have its first sailing in early March.
It said the changes will allow for a more complete and comprehensive coverage of the Caribbean Basin, connecting Hamburg Süd’s worldwide network of services through the Cartagena hub.