Trade links will be boosted between China and Africa from mid-May when Safmarine Container Lines, a subsidiary of Denmark's Moller-Maersk shipping group, enhances its box ship connections between ports on the mainland and West Africa, Cargonewsasia reports.
John Boudreau, the Shanghai-based Asia regional executive for Safmarine, told the South China Morning Post three extra port calls would be made in China to coincide with the delivery of larger container ships to Safmarine. Asked if the ports included Hong Kong, he said the port rotation was still being agreed.
Boudreau was speaking on Friday, a day after affiliated shipping company Maersk Line confirmed it would shift about one third of its ship calls from Hong Kong to its third south China gateway at Nansha. Safmarine already calls at Nansha on its two services between China and West Africa, but only one call is made at Hong Kong. Other calls are made at Fuzhou, Ningbo and Yantian.
A third service links Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia with West Africa and Boudreau indicated this loop would be extended to China following the arrival of the first of Safmarine's three 4,500 teu (20-foot equivalent unit) Wafmax ships in April.
They are among 22 Wafmax vessels, named because they are the maximum size of ship capable of using West African ports, ordered by the Maersk group from a South Korean shipbuilder.
"In the future there will be more direct calls from China without having the same need to transship [cargo," he said.
Boudreau added that the strengthened service would cut the transit time from east China and north Asia to West Africa "by at least a week". This was because cargo would not suffer lengthy delays caused by transshipping containers through multiple ports, while also reducing the associated risk from port congestion and labour issues.
Safmarine also recently upgraded its Far East-East Africa service with a direct shipping route between Nansha and Yantian with Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Boudreau said this was part of a move over the past six months to either add more capacity or increase the frequency of services to satisfy demand from customers.
Explaining the types of cargo carried, he said this included meat, poultry, citrus fruits and other perishables, together with consumer goods and semi-finished manufactured products. It also included containers of raw materials, such as palm oil, which are usually shipped as bulk cargoes.
On the outlook for the year, Boudreau said while Asian cargo volumes had been increasing week-on-week in March they were still below initial targets, but were ahead of the volumes seen in January and February.
But Safmarine was also seeing "a stronger performance on trades from and to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent," he said.
Boudreau said he remained optimistic about prospects for trade growth between China and Africa, especially the project cargo business that included equipment for oil field and resources development.
The firm had recently taken delivery of the first of six new multi-purpose vessels, which have shipboard cranes and moveable decks that can carry both containerised and bulk cargo such as steel pipe for pipelines, construction equipment and even buses.
The remaining five will be delivered this year by mainland shipyards.
The first two vessels were built by Jiangsu Sugang Shipbuilding, while four others are under construction at Wuhu Shipyard.
Hu Ke, Asia line manager for the multi-purpose vessel business, said the swift development of China in recent years had led to increased project cargo being shipped from China to Africa and raw materials from Africa to China.
"Countries such as Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia have regular shipments of break-bulk cargo including equipment and rolling stock to Africa," he said.
"And currently, we have a monthly service between Asia and West Africa, with vessels calling at ports in China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and West Africa.
"The six new multi-purpose vessels will allow us to increase our frequency to a bi-weekly service, and cover more Asian ports, for example in Japan and Indonesia."
John Boudreau, the Shanghai-based Asia regional executive for Safmarine, told the South China Morning Post three extra port calls would be made in China to coincide with the delivery of larger container ships to Safmarine. Asked if the ports included Hong Kong, he said the port rotation was still being agreed.
Boudreau was speaking on Friday, a day after affiliated shipping company Maersk Line confirmed it would shift about one third of its ship calls from Hong Kong to its third south China gateway at Nansha. Safmarine already calls at Nansha on its two services between China and West Africa, but only one call is made at Hong Kong. Other calls are made at Fuzhou, Ningbo and Yantian.
A third service links Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia with West Africa and Boudreau indicated this loop would be extended to China following the arrival of the first of Safmarine's three 4,500 teu (20-foot equivalent unit) Wafmax ships in April.
They are among 22 Wafmax vessels, named because they are the maximum size of ship capable of using West African ports, ordered by the Maersk group from a South Korean shipbuilder.
"In the future there will be more direct calls from China without having the same need to transship [cargo," he said.
Boudreau added that the strengthened service would cut the transit time from east China and north Asia to West Africa "by at least a week". This was because cargo would not suffer lengthy delays caused by transshipping containers through multiple ports, while also reducing the associated risk from port congestion and labour issues.
Safmarine also recently upgraded its Far East-East Africa service with a direct shipping route between Nansha and Yantian with Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Boudreau said this was part of a move over the past six months to either add more capacity or increase the frequency of services to satisfy demand from customers.
Explaining the types of cargo carried, he said this included meat, poultry, citrus fruits and other perishables, together with consumer goods and semi-finished manufactured products. It also included containers of raw materials, such as palm oil, which are usually shipped as bulk cargoes.
On the outlook for the year, Boudreau said while Asian cargo volumes had been increasing week-on-week in March they were still below initial targets, but were ahead of the volumes seen in January and February.
But Safmarine was also seeing "a stronger performance on trades from and to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent," he said.
Boudreau said he remained optimistic about prospects for trade growth between China and Africa, especially the project cargo business that included equipment for oil field and resources development.
The firm had recently taken delivery of the first of six new multi-purpose vessels, which have shipboard cranes and moveable decks that can carry both containerised and bulk cargo such as steel pipe for pipelines, construction equipment and even buses.
The remaining five will be delivered this year by mainland shipyards.
The first two vessels were built by Jiangsu Sugang Shipbuilding, while four others are under construction at Wuhu Shipyard.
Hu Ke, Asia line manager for the multi-purpose vessel business, said the swift development of China in recent years had led to increased project cargo being shipped from China to Africa and raw materials from Africa to China.
"Countries such as Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia have regular shipments of break-bulk cargo including equipment and rolling stock to Africa," he said.
"And currently, we have a monthly service between Asia and West Africa, with vessels calling at ports in China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and West Africa.
"The six new multi-purpose vessels will allow us to increase our frequency to a bi-weekly service, and cover more Asian ports, for example in Japan and Indonesia."