Evergreen, Lloyd Triestino and Zim to launch a new service

Evergreen, Lloyd Triestino and Zim are to launch a new service connecting North Europe with major ports in the Eastern Mediterranean. Designated the Europe ? Levant Express (ELS) service, it will offer a weekly schedule maintained by four chartered vessels. The first vessel, the 2000TEU Diman II, is due to commence loading in Thamesport in the UK on 11 April.
The initial port rotation, based on fixed days of the week port calls, will be:
Thamesport - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Lisbon - Taranto - Piraeus - Istanbul - Izmir - Taranto - Thamesport.
A northbound call at Lisbon is also envisaged in the near future.
In addition to Diman II, the other vessels chartered to operate this service are Pacific Link, Nautique and HSH Ubin.
The ELS service has been tailored to fit into the lines?existing global service networks and will connect with a large number of additional ports in the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Sea by taking full advantage of the feeder services that operate out of the Mediterranean hub ports of Taranto and Piraeus. Furthermore, over North Europe, it will provide links to Scandinavia and Baltic Sea ports.