From November 1 the new weekly fixed day service began, with calls in Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranagua, Navegantes (part of the Itajai port complex), with transhipment to the Middle East from Tangiers, where it connects with the Northern Europe to Middle East service (via the Mediterranean).
Distribution for the Middle East region is now made out of Jebel Ali, in Dubai.
According to Henrik Simon, the Hamburg Sud director for reefer cargo for the East Coast of South America, the new service will transport around 400 FEU boxes per month in this trade, mostly reefer cargo such as chicken and beef.
He said: “With this service we can better serve our customers in Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dabi, Jeddah and Bandar Abbas!”
Simon estimates that around 60% of all the cargoes to the Middle East region on this service will be chicken or beef and he was hopeful that fruit would be transported in the near future.