AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE TO START INDIAN OCEAN SHIPPING FEEDER SERVICES

MOMBASA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016:  

A new container feeder service by AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE will connect Eastern African Port of Mombasa (Hub) and Mogadishu, Somalia with Further Rotations from Mombasa hub to Tanga, Pemba, Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar Covering Indian Ocean Ports.

In The Mombasa-Kismayu-Mogadishu (MOKIMOG) and Mombasa-Tanga-Zanzibar-Dar-essalaam service (MOTANZI), AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE will be operating Two Vessels each of 500 and 600 twenty foot equivalent unit capacity vessels with the port rotation.

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE operated vessels - will be part of the weekly fixed sailing to the said port rotations will be operating at Mombasa Port Hub.

The service is set to commence on May 25th 2017. In the return voyage, the ships carried export boxes to Mombasa and Dar Es Salaam ports. It is expected AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE will act as a fast feeder link of Major Liners (MAERSK, CMA-CGM, EVERGREEN and COSCO) connecting from The Dubai Gulf Corridor, Indian Subcontinent, Far East Asia and China. 

CMA is also offering other Feeder Network in Indian Ocean connecting Nacala to Mutsamudu (Comores). Major commodities included Foodstuff, Textile, Construction materials, Machinery and Spareparts, garments and Other general cargo.

Clients from Eastern African Countries of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar Islands will now have connections for importing  automobiles, pharmaceutical & Chemical goods, Foodstuff, Textile, Construction materials, Machinery and Spareparts, garments and Other general cargo.

In the return leg, Agricultural Products like Cashewnuts, Dried Bananas, Hides & Skins, groundnuts, coffee and machinery spares would be carried.

MAERSK LINE BUYING GERMAN CONTAINER LINE, HAMBURG SUD

The shipping arm of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S is looking to buy German peer Hamburg Süd, people with knowledge of the matter said, a deal that would help Maersk Line boost its presence in global trade with Latin America.

Maersk Line, the world’s leading container-shipping operator, is interested in acquiring the entire Hamburg Süd business, which had $6.7 billion in revenue in 2015, the German-owned line focused on South American routes.  

It will be Maersk Line first acquisition of an entire shipping company in more than a decade. 

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the Oetker family, which has owned Hamburg Süd since 1955, were thinking of selling. On Monday the Journal identified Maersk as a potential buyer. Other potential names included CMA CGM and China COSCO. 

The purchase would give Maersk a boost in the South American market, and it would give Hamburg Süd's operations access to Maersk’s global scale: Maersk Line is the largest carrier, and it is one-half of the massive 2M alliance. Hamburg Süd is not presently a member of an alliance, and its capacity accounts for about three percent of the world's total. 

Maersk has indicated that it will seek to grow through acquisitions rather than newbuildings, given the ample supply of existing tonnage in an oversupplied, depressed market. It has already acquired charters on six 13,000 TEU vessels previously used by Hanjin Shipping, which is presently in bankruptcy proceedings. 

Hamburg Süd considered a merger with Hapag-Lloyd in 2013. The talks did not succeed, and Hapag went on to initiate mergers with CSAV and UASC instead.

Media reports suggest the Oetker family will meet to discuss Hamburg Süd's fate on Wednesday. The Oetker Group and Hamburg Süd have declined to comment on any potential sale, but Hamburger Abendblatt reports that there is a division within the family about which course to take: Rudolf August Oetker's eldest sons are said to favor keeping Hamburg Süd, while his younger children favor a sale. The family's corporate group has a wide range of other business interests, from wine to private banking to food products – but shipping is by far its largest division, accounting for about half of group sales last year.