Danish box carrier Maersk will add a ninth vessel to the fleet of its weekly North Europe – East Coast of South America “Samba” service in November, while it will also add Tanger Med southbound call to the service’s port rotation.
As a result, nine vessels of 10,500 TEU capacity will be deployed on the Samba service, which will have the following rotation: London-Gateway, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Tanger Med, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Santos, Tanger Med, London-Gateway.
The first ship following the extended rotation will be the 10,589 TEU Cap San Antonio, scheduled to sail ex Antwerp on 15 November, while the extra boxship for the “Samba” fleet will be the 10,500 TEU Cap San Tainaro.
The extension of the round trip time will not lead to the reinstatement of calls at Itapoa or Le Havre, according to a statement.
It is important to note that french ocean carrier CMA CGM and Chinese box line COSCO Shipping Lines are co-loading on the “Samba” service using “Safran” and “ESE” brand names, respectively.
“The changes are intended to restore the reliability in East Coast South America & North Europe and deliver higher level of predictability of your cargo delivery, while providing improved product offerings from Mediterranean & Middle East to East Coast South America,” said Maersk in a customer advisory.
