الخطوط الملاحية الأفريقية ASLINE - AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE - The World's Gateway to Africa...بوابة العالم إلى الموانئ الأفريقية ...Dünyanın Afrika Limanlarına Açılan Kapısı...世界通往非洲港口的门户......WEEKLY VOYAGES CONNECTING CHINA, MALAYSIA, THAILAND, INDIA, SRILANKA, PAKISTAN, DUBAI TO THE FOLLOWING AFRICAN PORTS : #MOMBASA #DARESALAAM #MOGADISHU #KISMAYO #BOSASO #BERBERA #DJIBOUTI #PORTSUDAN #NACALA #DURBAN #LUANDA #LOBITO #DOUALA #APAPA #TINCAN #LOME #TEMA #ABIDJAN #BISSAU #DAKAR

ASLINE - AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE DUBAI

Thursday

TEMA PORT : WEST AFRICA GAINING MOMENTUM

Anthony Firmin, chief operating officer at Hapag-Lloyd, said:  "Our West Africa Express (WAX) service from and to West Africa has been operating with extraordinary success for several years and is very well received by customers.

"With our new East Africa Service (EAS), connecting Saudi Arabia with Kenya and Tanzania, we have entered another new trade. As a result, we are tying Africa even more closely to our global network while benefitting at the same time from positive economic developments in large parts of Africa," he added.


Hapag- Lloyd said the GDP of West Africa has grown significantly in the last two years, rising by an average of 6 percent annually, with Ghana among the fastest growing economies in the region. Growth has been driven primarily by the trade in gold but also in oil and gas products.

Ghana is gradually becoming a trans-shipment hub in West Africa following expansion works carried out at the Tema Port, Mr Anthony Firmin, the Chief Operating Officer of Hapag Llyod, a German shipping Line, has said.

“The growth of Tema Port will further reinforce the role of Ghana as a hub for West Africa.”

At a Press Conference to announce the official opening of its new offices located in Tema, Mr Firmin recounted that Ghana’s economy was strongly growing. He noted that his company chose Ghana because the country was not only politically and legally stable, but was business friendly, making many multinationals in West Africa to set up their regional offices here.

Mr Firmin said Ghana’s strong regional setting also offered a springboard into Africa and access to market of 350 million inhabitants.He said his organisation for the past three years had offered expertise and support in the exportation and importation of perishable items such as yam, fruits and fish to Europe and across the globe. Mr Firmin was also pleased that the company’s enhanced presence in West Africa was showing signs of success.

“Our West African Express (WAX) service to and from West Africa has been operating with extraordinary success for several years and is very well received by customers.

“With our new East Africa Service (EAS), connecting all major trades globally via our hub in Saudi Arabia with Kenya and Tanzania, we have entered another new trade.

“As a result, we are tying Africa even more closely to our global network while benefiting at the same time from positive economic development in large parts of Africa,” he said.

He said Ghana was among the fastest growing economies in the Region, adding that her growth was primarily driven by the trade in gold, oil and gas products. Mr Firmin said Ghana’s ports handling capacity was likely to triple by mid-2019, from one million to three million Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEU).

“Hapag-Llyod is expecting additional growth opportunities from this capacity expansion,” he added.

Hapag Llyod is one of the world’s leading shipping lines with a fleet of 219 modern container ships and total transport capacity of 1.6 million TEU. It has about 12,500 employees with over 380 offices in 125 countries.

Wednesday

COSCO TAKE OVER OF OOCL COMPLETE BY END- JUNE: VICE CHAIRMAN

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - COSCO Shipping’s (601919.SS) planned acquisition of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) is on track to be completed by the end of June, the company’s vice chairman Huang Xiaowen said on Tuesday.

COSCO is still answering questions from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on the deal, and is also awaiting a number of domestic approvals, Huang told a press conference in Shanghai.

He said the deal needed U.S. approval as OOCL had some assets in that country. “Up to now we are quite confident to push forward this acquisition ... it’s progressing normally,” he said.

COSCO last year offered to buy Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) (0316.HK) in a $6.3 billion deal that will see the Chinese shipping giant become the world’s third-largest container shipping line. OOCL is the main subsidiary of OOIL. The company said in July last year that the transaction would be completed by June 30 and the deal had already received approvals from European and United States anti-monopoly regulators.

The proposed deal is the latest in a wave of mergers and acquisitions in global container shipping that has left the top six shipping lines controlling 63 percent of the market and comes at a time when the industry is experiencing recovery after a lengthy downturn.

COSCO said last week it expected further growth in container shipping demand thanks to a continued recovery in global trade, after reporting that it had swung to a net profit of 2.7 billion yuan ($429.42 million) for 2017. Huang said the company was also keeping a close eye on rising trade tensions between China and the United States, trade between which currently contributes to about 15 percent of its cargo volumes.

Wang Haimin, COSCO’s general manager, said there was currently little evidence that the tensions were affecting cargo volumes but noted that the company had reduced its U.S. capacity slightly over the past few years as part of its restructuring.

“We will take appropriate action to protect our company’s market as well as the rights and interests of our customers,” Huang said.