Ocean Container Lines Cooperate on New Transcontinental Freight Services

EUROPE – CARIBBEAN – CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA – German container line Hamburg Süd says it has strengthened its ocean freight portfolio on the Europe-Central America, Caribbean and South America West Coast trade with its latest collaboration with Maersk Line with the pair opening a joint, standalone set of service offerings.

In a region which Hamburg Süd has always considered a key element in its global network of liner services the new cooperation with Maersk will enable it to expand and enhance the offerings on this core trade. Frank Smet, Chief Commercial Officer of Hamburg Süd, commented:

“Combining the strengths of Hamburg Süd and Maersk, we can offer our customers a best in class stand-alone service configuration without having to depend on vessel sharing agreements with other shipping companies. This allows maximum flexibility towards the needs of the trade and our customers because we can design and operate the systems totally independently.

”This also allows us to make seasonal adjustments to cater to specific cargo flows, for example to reduce transit times for perishables or to call different ports on a direct basis if there is sufficient demand from our clients to do so.”

The services commence in June 2019 and will see eight, 4,500 TEU wide beam post Panamax class ships, all with 1,400 reefer plugs, an essential on this warm climate trade, deployed on SAWC1. The first northbound sailing of the new SAWC1 service is scheduled to be on June 10, 2019, with the Luna Maersk departing from San Antonio. The first southbound sailing is Lexa Maersk with ETD from Antwerp on June 6, 2019. The service will mean:

• Fast direct connection between the Chilean ports of San Vicente and San Antonio and North Europe
• Improved links to global network through the hub ports of Balboa, Cartagena and Manzanillo; customers will have access to the market-leading global Maersk Group network including the US, Russian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ports
• Increased South American port coverage with multiple services moving through the West Coast of South America; customers will now have services to/from an unparalleled number of ports in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia

In addition, Hamburg Süd will continue to have access to the existing Eurosal service (SAWC2), providing coverage for ports in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, while also maintaining a direct connection to/from the French port of Le Havre.