Hong Kong liner operator now set to serve both sides of continent with new services from Asia and Europe.
OOCL is expanding its liner service foot print in Africa with the introduction of new services to the continent from Asia and Europe.
From China it is introducing two new services – West Africa Service 1 (WAF1) and West Africa Service 3 (WAF3) – with the two services starting on 6 November and 31 October respectively.
The Hong Kong liner operator said the new services will offer direct calls to strategic ports including Apapa and Tincan in Nigeria, Tema in Ghana and Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.
Later this month OOCL will also launch a Mediterranean – West Africa (MAF) service out of the Italian port of Genoa.
After Genoa, the port rotation comprises Valencia, Algeciras, Dakar in Senegal, Tincan, Tema and Abidjan before returning to Genoa.
OOCL said its focus was to expand its business network in the West Africa market and to meet the growing demand for quality services in the region.
The first sailing is due to depart Genoa on 27 October 2018 aboard the Lomar Shipping-owned 2,526-teu Calais Trader (built 2001).
News of the new service comes as Dutch shipping consultancy Dynaamar BV forecasts that West Africa full container volumes will reach 4.3mteu by 2021.
West Africa accommodates over 535m people, has a trade value of $294bn and a GDP estimated at $802 bn, according to Dynaamar.
The Gulf of Guinea region makes up for a share of 65% of population, 71% of GDP, 63% of trade and 56% of container throughput.
“Twenty-four liner carriers are active now, with Maersk Line still in the lead, although MSC is hot on its heels on the back of significant growth. New entrants to the market include CoscoSL and Ocean Network Express (ONE),” it says.
“Within the next year, over a dozen West African ports will be able to handle vessels of more than 6,000-teu, or even as large as 10,000-teu.”
However, Dynaamar says that despite the emergence of very capable terminals across West Africa, there has been no substantial decrease in indirect traffic via the Med.
“Even today, an estimated 25% of all West African container volumes runs via a Mediterranean hub,” it said.
Last month OOCL expanded its services to East Africa with four new services between Asia and the African continent.
The services provided links between the major Chinese cities and the strategic East African ports of Mombasa and Dar Es Salaam.
