Safmarine said it is reintroducing the ME 3 shipping service between the Mediterranean and West Central Asia.
The carrier is reintroducing the ME 3 service as a dedicated loop for the Mediterranean – Middle East/India trade after temporarily withdrawing it in 2009. The new ME3 is designed for direct Turkey coverage with a direct call in Ambarli.
Safmarine Liner Director Jan Scheck said Monday the reintroduction of the service supports Safmarine’s plans to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Mediterranean/Black Sea region. Safmarine is renewing the focus on its core markets of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa.
“The focus of the revised ME 3 service is on providing an improved product, rather than on increasing capacity, hence the decision to add a direct call at Ambarli and to deploy smaller vessels on the revised service,” Schenk said in the announcement.
Safmarine will deploy five vessels with an average capacity of 1,400 40-foot equivalent units on the ME 3 service, which will have a port rotation of: Pipavav, (India), Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Jebel Ali (UAE), Salalah (Oman), Port Said (Egypt), Ambarli (Turkey), Gioia Tauro (Italy), Port Said (Egypt), Jebel Ali.
The carrier said the new ME 3 service complements the product enhancements it has made to the ME1 service which now skips the ports of Gioia Tauro and Port Said, because they will now be covered by the ME3, and replaces them with eastbound calls at Algeciras and Aqaba. The ME 1 service will also offer a direct North Europe to Aqaba connection, which the carrier said will be the fastest in the market.
Scheck said the combined product changes on ME 1 and ME 3 will lead to an improved Intra-Middle East service as these services will provide more frequent departures from West and North India to Jebel Ali and the ports served in this region.
“Similarly we will be able to offer an additional weekly sailing from the Gulf area to Pipavav and Jawaharlal Nehru. The addition of Aqaba to the ME1 rotation will also enable a fast and direct service from Jordan to Jebel Ali and West and North India,” Schenk said.
The carrier is reintroducing the ME 3 service as a dedicated loop for the Mediterranean – Middle East/India trade after temporarily withdrawing it in 2009. The new ME3 is designed for direct Turkey coverage with a direct call in Ambarli.
Safmarine Liner Director Jan Scheck said Monday the reintroduction of the service supports Safmarine’s plans to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Mediterranean/Black Sea region. Safmarine is renewing the focus on its core markets of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa.
“The focus of the revised ME 3 service is on providing an improved product, rather than on increasing capacity, hence the decision to add a direct call at Ambarli and to deploy smaller vessels on the revised service,” Schenk said in the announcement.
Safmarine will deploy five vessels with an average capacity of 1,400 40-foot equivalent units on the ME 3 service, which will have a port rotation of: Pipavav, (India), Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Jebel Ali (UAE), Salalah (Oman), Port Said (Egypt), Ambarli (Turkey), Gioia Tauro (Italy), Port Said (Egypt), Jebel Ali.
The carrier said the new ME 3 service complements the product enhancements it has made to the ME1 service which now skips the ports of Gioia Tauro and Port Said, because they will now be covered by the ME3, and replaces them with eastbound calls at Algeciras and Aqaba. The ME 1 service will also offer a direct North Europe to Aqaba connection, which the carrier said will be the fastest in the market.
Scheck said the combined product changes on ME 1 and ME 3 will lead to an improved Intra-Middle East service as these services will provide more frequent departures from West and North India to Jebel Ali and the ports served in this region.
“Similarly we will be able to offer an additional weekly sailing from the Gulf area to Pipavav and Jawaharlal Nehru. The addition of Aqaba to the ME1 rotation will also enable a fast and direct service from Jordan to Jebel Ali and West and North India,” Schenk said.