Hapag-Lloyd expanding service to West Africa

The Hamburg-based shipping line Hapag-Lloyd is increasing its involvement with West Africa. It is establishing its own service linking Dakar and Tema in West Africa and Hamburg, Amsterdam and Southampton in Europe at the end of the year. Two vessels - becoming available from fleet cascading - each capable of carrying about 800 standard containers will be deployed, offering departures every 16 days. Each unit will have 100 reefer plugs. Transhipment possibilities will be offered from Dakar and Tema to all ports in West Africa.

After its integration of CP Ships, Hapag-Lloyd belongs to the top 5 lines in global container shipping. Its comprehensive liner network with 90 services covers all major ports on all continents. It has a fleet of more than 140 containerships with an overall capacity of approx. 460,000 standard containers. Hapag-Lloyd offers a wide range of container types in the standard sizes 20 feet and 40 feet. It provides a total of million boxes (TEU).

Hapag-Lloyd has traditionally focused on the main East-West routes, but is now stepping up its presence on North-South routes, particularly services with Africa. It has just started a service to South Africa and offers a further link between the US East Coast and West Africa. It has now decided to expand its existing service from Northern Europe to West Africa at the end of the year.