Safmarine redeploys own vessels on US-South Africa trade

SAFMARINE has recently held a naming ceremony for its latest newbuilding, the Safmarine Nyassa, the second in a series of five containerships to be built for the shipping line at the Hegemann Group's Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund, Germany.

The 2,474-TEU ship will be deployed on the company's Amex service between Southern Africa and the US east coast. The ship is expected to enter into the Amex service in May. The Amex service deploys eight ships, each with a 2,300-TEU capacity.

In news from the other side of the Atlantic, Safmarine, the Port Authority of Maryland and the local shipping community witnessed the maiden call of Safmarine Nyassa's sister ship, the Safmarine Ngami, at Baltimore. This maiden call, together with her earlier arrival in Newark "marked an historic return of a fully-owned ship carrying the Safmarine logoscript on a white hull to United States. The service had previously been served by Safmarine with chartered tonnage only", a company statement said.

"The US Government provided the three ships which became Safmarine's first owned, general purpose cargo ships on the US-South Africa trade," said Safmarine president John Boudreau said. "Just over 61 years later we are now celebrating the arrival of the first in a new fleet of Safmarine ships trading between southern Africa and our shores."

Across the Pacific at the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction shipyard in Busan, the shipping line was also celebrating the naming of the Safmarine Kariba, the largest container vessel ever to join the Safmarine owned fleet.

Outgoing liner director for Safmarine and newly-appointed area manager for Maersk Line's Latin America region, Torsten Hartmann, said: "We are delighted to now have the Safmarine Kariba join our fleet as a fully-fledged Safmarine-owned vessel and look forward to having a second sister vessel join her in June this year."

The port rotation for the Amex service (southbound) is Newark, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, Freeport, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.