Week 44 – 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 phase in at INMUN on 10th Nov to replace Velika, which will phase out at INNSA (18th Nov).

• Rio Grande Express under voyage 2637E will phase out at INMUN (1st Dec). Cape Town Express (ex Seaspan Lahore) will phase in at INMUN (8th 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 East Africa to maintain her phase-out plan in INNSA on 31st Oct.

• Structural blank sailing in week 42 to reflect the new transition into the service, with Evergreen's Ever Brace phasing in on 11th Nov at INNSA.

East Africa Service 3 (EAS3)

• Blank sailings will take place in weeks 38 and 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 will take place in week 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 out for one cycle effective from 28th Oct at MAPTM to support the Jeddah backlog. Week 44 will be a blank sailing. The vessel is planned to return to the service on 25th Nov at MAPTM.

West Africa Service 2 (WA2)

• Cape Byron voyage 2640N is planned to omit SLFNA to avoid a delay in her return to MAPTM and perform COR by calling LRMLW followed by MRNCK.

• Ulanga on voyage 2642N will omit LRMLW to improve her return date to MAPTM due to the long waiting times currently experienced at WAF ports.

West Africa Service 3 (WA3)

• AS Cypria, voyage 2640N, will call SLFNA on an ad hoc basis along with GNCKY. The GMBJL call has been omitted.

• Matilde A on voyage 2644N will omit GNCKY and add an ad hoc call to MRNKC along with GMBJL.

South Africa – Asia Express 1 (SA1)

• Blank sailings will take place in weeks 38 and 41 to cover Golden Week in Asia.

• Blank sailing in week 42.

South Africa – Asia Express 2 (SA2)

• No sailing will take place in week 41 to cover Golden Week in Asia.

West Africa Express (WAX)

• 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 one week into AFR starting from Tyndall 634E. This also results in the westbound blank sailing during Chinese Golden Week (week 40).

• M/v Luanda Express will phase out at CNTAO on 25th Oct. Direct replacement vessel M/v Dallas Express will phase in at CNTAO.

South Africa Express (SAX)

• Santa Isabel Maersk v641S will call NLRTM (ETA 8th October) before GBLGP (ETA 12th October).

• MV ONE Responsibility v.636N will be the final vessel calling ESALG NB (ETA 8th October) for the 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 will follow 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 (26th Oct) for further connections on WWA/Dublin Express (ETA Le Havre 27th Oct). Her expected return to service (targeted in week 43 at Antwerp) is yet to be confirmed.

• API Bhum, on voyage 2638N, will omit NGTIN to recover schedule following additional delays at other WAF ports and ensure her timely return to Europe.

• Venetia omits AOLAD on 27th Oct to return to BEANR one week earlier, sailing in week 46 instead of week 47. The week 47 sailing will be taken by Dublin Express, as the vessel is staying longer in Africa due to current ongoing delays.

• Cali v.2642S omits PTLIS due to weather disruptions in Northern Europe and to minimize additional delays, enabling the vessel to reach Africa close to proforma.

South America – Africa – Triangle Service (SAT)

• An additional schedule slide will take place in week 42 to reset schedule delays in BRPNG due to severe waiting times for berths at African ports.

West Africa

• Dakar, Senegal – No delays for window vessels. OOW vessels are currently facing delays of up to 72 hours. Yard density is over 82%.

• Conakry, Guinea – Berthing is based on new berthing proposals, FCFS with one vessel per line. Current delays remain at 16–20 days.

• Monrovia, Liberia – Yard is congested. Current berth delays for window vessels are up to 8–10 days. One berth is under maintenance from 31st August until the end of November.

• Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Yard is heavily congested. Current berth delays for window vessels are up to 3–4 days. The terminal recovery plan is active, with recovery expected by the end of October.

• Tema, Ghana – Terminal is facing reefer yard issues, with plug utilization exceeding 93%. Berthing delays for window vessels are up to 2–3 days. OOW vessels are subject to berth availability. No ad hoc callers.

• Nigeria (APP) – Operational slowdowns are reported due to heavy yard congestion. Current operational delays are up to 12 hours.

• Nigeria (TICT) – High yard congestion is impacting terminal performance. Current berth delays are up to 24 hours.

• Nigeria (ONNE) – Operational slowdowns are reported due to heavy rainfall and yard congestion. Current operational delays are up to 24 hours.

• BJCOO – No delays for window vessels if documentation is ready. OOW vessels are subject to berth availability and document readiness, following a first-ready, first-berth approach.

Central Africa

• Douala, Cameroon – Average delays of up to 48 hours due to seasonal rains.

• Kribi, Cameroon – Waiting times of up to 24 hours are reported due to intermittent rainfall.

• Matadi, Congo DRC – Maximum draft on the Congo River is advised at 7.5 meters due to strong currents. Matadi Gateway Terminal handles a maximum of one vessel per day.

• Pointe Noire, Congo – Yard is heavily congested (100%). Current delays are up to 2 days. Fixed windows and FIFO have been suspended, with preference given to vessels with high loading volumes to reduce congestion. Feeder berth waiting times remain high, mainly for connections from mainline vessels.

• Luanda, Angola – Currently experiencing high swells, with berth delays of up to 3 days, subject to AWA vessel clashes.

South Africa

• Durban, South Africa – Pier 1 is experiencing delays of up to 10–12 days, while Pier 2 (DGT) is facing delays of up to 12–14 days. Conditions should be monitored on a case-by-case basis, considering weather impacts.

• Cape Town, South Africa – Currently experiencing strong wind gusts. CTCT delays are up to 2 days (24–48 hours). CTMPT delays are up to 24 hours due to wind conditions. Seasonal weather disruptions are expected to occur intermittently until the end of February.

• Port Elizabeth – Adverse weather conditions, including strong winds and rainfall, are expected to cause delays of 1–2 days.

• Coega – Adverse weather conditions, including strong winds and rainfall, are expected to cause delays of 2–3 days.

East Africa

• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania –

  • DPW: Waiting times of up to 24–48 hours due to berth sequencing. Terminal gate and road congestion are causing additional delays.

  • Adani: Waiting times of up to 48 hours due to berth sequencing.

• Mombasa, Kenya – For EA2, average berthing delays are up to 3 days. Other SSYs are experiencing average waiting times of 6+ days. The terminal continues to face long-term congestion and slow productivity due to equipment shortages and high transshipment volumes. Berth delays are further impacted by multiple vessels arriving outside their scheduled 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