Africa Operational Updates - Week 8

Middle East - India - Africa Express (MIAX)

• New MIA WB window at Pier 2 from FRI 2200 -SUN 1300. While EB window at Pier 1 from WED 0600 - FRI 0600.

East Africa Service 2 (EAS2)

• Apollon D will phase out at TZDAR 21/02 during her 2604N voyage. There will be no direct replacement. Replacement vessel- M/v Bright will phase in at INNSA 25/02 under V2609.
• Bright will phase out at TZDAR 23/03 during her 2609N voyage. Direct replacement – M/v EF Olivia will phase in at KEMBA on 07/03.

East Africa Service 3 (EAS3)

• No Sail Week on WK 09 - 26 February.
• KOTA KAMIL V#603E will Phase out at CNSHA on 28th Feb.

East Africa Service 4 (EAS4)

• KOTA SEJARAH will Phase out at CNATO on 08th March.
• NO SAIL WEEK on 26 February.

West Africa Service 1 (WA1)

• GH FOUHN phasing in on 02/Feb position at PTM to follow WA1 rotation. Later on, Ulange will P/O after evacuating the Empties ex AFR to Aliaga, TR on 28/Feb.
• AS Cypria Voy 2605N is omitting Dakar, SN giving her berth window position to WAX vessel “Spirit of Singapore” ETA 03/Feb.
• Tanger, MA new berth window agreed (Tue 18:00 Wed 21:00) and start take effect from WK 04 onward.

West Africa Service 2 (WA2)

• Cape Altius will join the service as extra loader on 07/Jan from Tangier, MA then calling 3 ports in WAF MRNKC/SLFNA/LRMLW then sail to BRPUN to phase into SAT on 05/Feb.      
• Cape Byron Voy 2603N omitting Conakry, GN and Monrovia, LR for schedule recovery and quick turn to MAPTM.
• WA2 new structure setup released as below and effective from WK 05 MAPTM position: Service will run by two vessels and two structure blank sailings. The cycle time extended to 28 days, Conakry, GN and Huelva, ES calls call moved out. PF berthing time for SLFNA and LRMLW changed the rest remain as the same.

West Africa Service 3 (WA3)

• WA3 new structure setup announced and effective from WK04 MAPTM Position. Cycle time extended to 42 days with 3 vessels (Matilde A, Acheloos and Stadt Dresden) and two structure blanks Conakry, GN call been added. Matilde A will keep do two sailing in 1 cycle due to GNCKY congestion.     
• Stadt Dresden her first voyage in the service is 2606S and planned to call Nouakchott, MR – Monrovia, LR - Freetown, SL on ad hoc basis, and Banjul been omitted.

South Africa – Asia Express 1 (SA1)

• DELPHINUS C V.106E will Phased in at CNSHA on 21st Jan.
• No Sail Week is observed on 24th Feb.
• BAI CHAY BRIDGE V. 147E will Phase out at CNTAO on 21st Feb.
• BAI CHAY BRIDGE V. 148W/E will Re-Phase in at CNTAO on 17th Mar.

South Africa – Asia Express 2 (SA2)

• COSCO SURABAYA V. 126W/E will phase in SA2 service at TWKHH on 13th Feb.

West Africa Express (WAX)

• Shekou Star v2605N COR GHTEM (07/02) ->TGLFW (09/02) ->BJCOO (10/02).
• Spirit of Singapore V2603N ad-hoc call SNDKR (09/02).

Asia – West Africa Service (AWA)

• There will be a blank sailing week in the service due to Chinese New Year. As from MV APL Detroit v.2548e / v2608w, ETA Qingdao 28-February 2026, all vessels will slide down position with one week.

South Africa Express (SAX)

• M/V Mehuin v.254N omits Cape Town, ZA and makes an ad-hoc call at Port Elizabeth, ZA on 11 January 2026, to discharge all Cape Town Imports for further connection to Cape Town on M/V Santa Teresa v.254N, eta 13 January 2026. She will then swap position with ONE Resolution v.254N, taking the SAX berth window at London Gateway on 26 January 2026.
  
• ONE Resilience v.507S will make a COR calling Rotterdam (eta 11-February) before London Gateway (eta 17-February).
• Santa Teresa v.608s will make a COR calling Rotterdam (eta 18-February) before London Gateway (eta 20-February).

West Europe – West Africa Service (WWA)

• MV Dublin Express v.2604N will make an ad-hoc call for empty evacuation at Tincan, Nigeria, ETA 26-February.
• MV Mediterranean Express v.2608S will omit Le Havre, France and will divert to Zeebrugge, Belgium, ETA 18-February. All Le Havre imports will discharge at Antwerp, Belgium for further connection to final port of destination.

West Africa

• Banjul, The Gambia: long term congestion, up to 4 days berth delay
• Dakar, Senegal:  Operating as normal
• Conakry, Guinea: based on sequence arrivals, delays up to 22 days
• Monrovia, Liberia: slow operations leading to berth congestion. Up to 2 days delay.
• Abidjan, Ivory Coast: New crane commissioned; however Ops slowdowns are expected due to vessel lineups built-up. Delays up to 24 hours for window vessel.
• Tema, Ghana: Terminal is facing Crane outage issues. Berthing delays for window vessels are up to 36 hrs. non-window subject to berth availability. No Ad-Hoc callers. followed by strict proforma moves.
• Nigeria: Ops slowdowns are expected for few weeks due to bad weather (rains). Current ops delays reported up to 18 hrs.

Central Africa

• Douala, Cameroon, on average 3 days waiting time for feeders mainly because of Main liner connections.
• Kribi, Cameroon, is undergoing a Terminal Expansion project. Up to 3 days waiting time are expected. Yard is at very high utilization status, especially laden Reefers. Laden reefers are monitored case by case to obtain terminal approvals for discharging at KRIBI.
• Matadi, Congo DRC. Congo river max draft advised at 7.5 meters, strong currents on the river. Matadi Gateway Terminal is working max 1 vessel per day.
• Pointe Noire, Congo Operating as normal, Feeder up to 3 days mainly for connections from mainliners.
• Luanda, Angola: Operating as normal

South Africa

• Durban, South Africa, Pier 1 up to 4 days & Pier 2 up to 3 days due to bad weathers and crane programs.
• Cape Town, South Africa, Currently facing high wind guts. Current delays up to 6+ days. Considering seasonal impact, this remains (on-off) until Feb ends.

East Africa

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

• DPW: 5-7 days waiting time due to berth sequence. Terminal gate and road congested causing delays
• Adani: Due to recent conflicts (closers), currently waiting time increases upto 05-06 days. Expecting waiting time to reduce by Dec end.

Mombasa, Kenya,

• up to 10 days waiting time. Terminal is facing Long-term congestion, slow productivity due to equipment shortages, high transshipment volumes. Berth delays is due to a bunching of vessels arriving off-window.

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. Booking Window Restriction: our booking window within the scope of the Middle East* has been revised to three weeks. 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