Week 43 – Africa Operational Update

Middle East - India - Africa Express (MIAX)

• Mirador Express will later phase out at INMUN (24th Nov). Replacement vessel- Tincan Express will phase in at INMUN (24th Nov) under 2647W.
• Kota Layang (To be renamed) will PHIN at INMUN on the 10th Nov to replace Velika.
• Seaspan Lahore (to be renamed) will phase in at INMUN (8th Dec).
• Rio Grande Express under voyage 2637E will phase out at INMUN (1st Dec).
• All Jebel Ali, AE port calls are suspended until further notice.

East Africa Service 2 (EAS2)

• All Jebel Ali, AE port calls are suspended until further notice.
• Wadi Duka on Voyage 2641N omits TZDAR 24/Oct PF position due to current delays in E. Africa to maintain her P/O plan in INNSA 31/Oct.
• Structure blank in WK 42 to reflect the new transaction into the service by having Evergreen, Ever Brace phasing in 11/Nov in INNSA.
• ESL Seattle first vessel to go with new VSA setup start from 21/Oct INNSA position.

East Africa Service 3 (EAS3)

• Blank sailing going to take place from WK 38 & WK 41 to cover Golden week in Asia
• KOTA SAHABAT will phase out at CNNSA on 16.10.2026
• KOTA SEMPENA will phase out at CNNSA on 05.11.2026
• KOTA SATRIA will phase in at CNTAO on 13.10.2026
• KOTA SABAS will phase in at CNTAO on 20.10.2026

East Africa Service 4 (EAS4)

• Blank sailing going to take place from WK 40 to cover Golden week in Asia.
• KOTA MAKMUR will phase out at CNSHA on 05.11.2026.
• KOTA SEMPENA will phase in at CNSHA on 30.10.2026.

West Africa Service 1 (WA1)

• Mersin Express will phase in on WK 40 from MAPTM on 30/Sep position.

West Africa Service 2 (WA2)

• Cape Byron Voyage 2640N planned to omit SLFNA, to avoid a delay in her return to MAPTM, and perform COR by calling LRMLW then MRNCK.
• Ulanga on voyage 2642N going to omit LRMLW to enhance her return date to MAPTM due to long waiting time we are facing currently in WAF ports.

West Africa Service 3 (WA3)

• AS Cypria, voyage 2640N going to call SLFNA on Ad Hoc basis along with GNCKY, GMBJL call has been omitted.
• Matilde A Voyage 2641N omit GNCKY and going to call MRNKC on ad-hoc basis along her call to GMBJL
• Matilde A on voyage 2644N going to omit GNCKY possible to add another ad-hoc call along with GMBJL call;  plan under reviewing.

South Africa – Asia Express 1 (SA1)

• Blank sailing is going to take place from WK 38 &WK 41 to cover Golden week in Asia.
• Blank Sailing on WK 42.

South Africa – Asia Express 2 (SA2)

• Blank sailing going to take place from WK 41 to cover Golden week in Asia.
• REN JIAN 10 will phase out at CNTAO on 13.10.2026
• ONE ATLAS will phase in at CNTAO on 13.10.2026

West Africa Express (WAX)

• New LTS has released covering the following structure changes
  - SB leg EGDAM call added begin with wk 34.
         - ESBCN NB call, Berth window advanced couple of hours start of Merkur Ocean V. 2634N
         - MAPTM NB call, Berth window advanced couple of hours start of Shekou Star V.2635N
  - SB leg from Cycle 09 has some changes as below:
         - MACAS plus ESBCN removed out and replaced by ESVLC Wednesday window.
         - TRIZT terminal change to DPW from SAT 13:00 to Sun 09:00.
         - TRGEM window advanced to MON 1600 till TUE 17:00.
         - TRIST window reduced to 28 hrs. port stay i/o 36 hrs.
• Spirit of Singapore, on voyage 2641N, will perform a COR call at TGLFW, followed by GHTEM, to repatriate the reefer units scheduled to be discharged by Ionikos at TGLFW. This will reduce inbound reefer volumes at GHTEM and enable the vessels to berth with minimal delays.

Asia – West Africa Service (AWA)

• All vessels will slide by 1 week into AFR starting from Tyndall 634E. This also results in the westbound blanking – Chinese Golden Week (Week 40).
• M/v Luanda Express will phase out at CNTAO on the 25th Oct. Direct replacement vessel will be M/v Dallas Express will phase in at CNTAO.

South Africa Express (SAX)

• Santa Isabel Maersk v641S will call NLRTM (eta 8 October) before GBLGP (eta 12 October
• MV ONE Responsibility v.636N will be the final vessel calling ESALG NB (eta 08-Oct) for Citrus season
• MV Santa Ursula v.637N will be the first vessel resuming the regular SAX rotation, sailing directly from Cape Town, ZA to London Gateway, GB
• MV Kalahari Express v.640S following the standard rotation

West Europe – West Africa Service (WWA)

• Amalthea v.2636S is out for repairs. Her on-board cargo will be discharged at Le Havre, FR (26-Oct) for further connections on WWA/Dublin Express (eta Le Havre 27-Oct). Her expected return to service (targeted in wk43 at Antwerp) is yet to be confirmed
• API Bhum, on voyage 2638N, will omit NGTIN to recover schedule following additional delays on other WAF ports and ensure her timely return to Europe.
• Venetia omits AOLAD on 27/Oct position to return to BEANR one week earlier, sail under week 46 i/o of 47. Sailing on WK 47 to be taken by Dublin Express as the vessel staying longer in Africa due to current ongoing delays.

South America - Africa - Triangle Service - (SAT)  

• Additional slide takes place in WK42 to reset the schedule delays in BRPNG due to sever waiting time for berth in
  Africa ports.

AFRICA SERVICES

West Africa

• Dakar, Senegal: No delay for window vessels, OOW currently facing up to 72hrs. delay, Yard is 82+%.
• Conakry, Guinea: Berthing Based on new berthing proposals FCFS with 1 vessel per/line. Current delays remain the same for up to 16-20 days.
• Monrovia, Liberia: Yard is congested, current berth delays for window vessels is up to 08-10 days. 01 berth is under maintenance from 31st Aug until Nov end.
• Abidjan, Ivory Coast: Yard is heavily congested, current berth delays for window vessels is up to 03-04 days. The Terminal recovery plan is active, expected recovery until Oct End
• Tema, Ghana: Terminal is facing REEFER yard issue plug utilize 93+%. Berthing delays for window vessels are up to 02-03 days with less RF discharge, OOW subject to berth availability. No Ad-Hoc callers.
• Nigeria (APP): Ops slowdowns are reported due to heavy rains and congestion at yard. Current ops delays reported up to 12 hrs.
• Nigeria (TICT): Due to high yard congestions, terminal performance impacted. Currently, up to 24-48 hrs. berth delays.
• Nigeria (ONNE): Ops slowdowns are reported due to heavy rains and congestion at yard. Current ops delays reported up to 24 hrs.
• BJCOO: No delays for window vessels if docs are ready, OOW subject to berth availability with doc's readiness first ready, first berth timelines.

Central Africa

• Douala, Cameroon: On average 48 hrs due to seasonal rains
• Kribi, Cameroon: Up to 24 hrs waiting time are reported (due to intermittent rains)
• Matadi, Congo DRC: Congo river max draft advised at 7.5 meters, strong currents on the river. Matadi Gateway Terminal works max 1 vessel per day.
• Pointe Noire, Congo: yard is heavily congested (100%) current delays are up to 03 days. FIX window + FIFO is currently terminated, and vessels with high load planning are preferred to berth to release congestion. Feeder waiting berth time is high side, mainly for connections from mainliners. 
• Luanda, Angola: Currently facing high swell, berth delays up to 3 days (subject to AWA vessel clashing).

 South Africa

• Durban, South Africa: Peir 1 up to 10-12 days delays & Peir 2 (DGT) is up to 12-14 days, however, to be monitored case by case considering weather conditions.
• Cape Town, South Africa: Currently facing high wind guts. Current delays up to 2 day for CTCT up to 24-48 hrs. 
• CTMPT: up to 24 hrs. due to wind impact considering seasonal impact, this remains (on-off) until Feb ends.
• Port Elizabeth: Impacted by Bad weather (strong wind and rains), expecting 1-2 days delay.
• Coega: Impacted by Bad weather (strong wind and rains), expecting 2-3 days delay.

 East Afriica

• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  - DPW: up to 24-48 hours waiting time due to berth sequence. Terminal gate and road congested causing delays
  - Adani: Up to 48 hours waiting time due to berth sequence.
• Mombasa, Kenya: For EA2, average berthing delays are up to 3 days. Other SSYs average up to 06+ days waiting time. Terminal is facing Long-term congestion, slow productivity due to equipment shortages, high transshipment volumes. Berth delays also are due to a bunch of vessels arriving off windows.

With your cargo planning in mind, we've upgraded our inland operations in India. With this change, you'll enjoy faster and more efficient services, a wider geographical coverage in India, and greater rate transparency, especially through our online products Quick Quotes and Quick Quotes Spot.

To guide you on this upgrade, which is starting on July 1, 2023,, here's a summary of your inland options:

1. Shipper's PDA: Empty pickup at port or Inland Container Depot (ICD) and handover at port. To access this service, select "Port of loading " and mention the "Pick-up at ICD". Please keep in mind that the empty pickup origin fee (POO) will apply and BL would only read port of loading and not “ICD location”
2. Rail ex-ICD (on Liner PDA): Empty pickup and container handover at an ICD. To access this service, please select "Received at terminal / ramp" and mention the handover ICD. Please note that rail pre-carriage charges (OLF) will apply. The empty pickup origin fee (POO) is included.
3. First Mile trucking: Hapag-Lloyd empty positioning and handover at ICD or port. To access this service, select "Received at your door" and detail the pickup location details. Please note that pre-carriage charges (OLF) for trucking and rail (for ICD movements) will apply. The empty pickup origin fee (POO) is included.
   To guide you through the scenarios and process, you can access the latest guide for inland bookings from India

The ongoing Suez Canal situation has resulted in changes and adjustments in the shipping industry, in particular for vessels in the Middle East and India markets where space on board vessels is limited. To alleviate that and to ensure you do not face issues when booking with us, we are implementing changes to our booking process with immediate effect:

1. This means that you will be able to place bookings for up to three subsequent weeks available sailings. With this restriction, we are ensuring space availability options by preventing early bookings.
2. Booking Monitoring: we are working to ensure that all of our customers get an equal chance to load on our ships. Therefore, we're monitoring bookings for every vessel at a customer level and will discourage bulk bookings or bookings that exceed the mutually agreed quantity.
3. Booking Amendment Policy: with your cargo flow in mind and to ensure a clear overview of your cargo on our vessels, booking in advance will not be feasible. If you require amending a booking to a previous week's vessel , please cancel your existing booking and place a new one.
4. Last Minute Space Availability: to provide you with an extended opportunity to secure bookings, we will strive to keep our Quick Quotes Spot product open until the last minute.
5. Shipping Guarantee: when feasible, you can opt for our Shipping Guarantee product to protect your shipment from potential rollovers.
6. Track Your Shipments: you can use our track and trace feature to identify the vessel on which your cargo has been loaded. Due to the current circumstances, you can then view the latest updates and status of the assigned vessel directly on our Live Ticker. This link will guide you through the actual vessel status, including its next port of call.
   

While the Suez Canal situation is fluid, we are continuously working towards finding alternatives for your cargo planning. In case you would like to review the charges related to booking cancellations, amendments and other related local charges, please refer to our tariff section and select the country of your interest. If you should have any questions or comments, please reach out to our teams at your preferred location.

*The countries under the Middle East scope covered in this initiative are: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Sudan, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia.

• Reach out to your local customer service representative here