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MAERSK will increase capacity on its India-Middle East-USEC (MECL 1) service, replacing seven 4,800-TEU Panama-beamed ships with eight 6,478-TEU ships which fit the expanding canal.
The slow-steaming service will turn in eight weeks instead of seven, with an addition call at Algeciras in both directions.
The new rotation is Nhava Sheva, Salalah, Algeciras (new call), New York, Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk, New York, Algeciras (new call), Jebel Ali, Port Qasim, Pipavav and back to Nhava Sheva, Alphaliner reported.
The 6,478 TEU ships are to be renamed and reflagged to the US flag as the MECL 1 is a US-flag service allowing it to carry certain specific government cargo. These ships are currently plying Maersk's Far East-WCSA "AC-3" service on which they are expected to be replaced by ships of comparable size, including ships, which are currently idle.
Meanwhile, the Danish shipping line is upsizing its Far East-Lower Red Sea service (Horn of Africa service) with the progressive replacement of the six 2,274 TEU ships by chartered units in the 3,500-TEU range. The Horn of Africa service calls at Tanjung Pelepas, Jebel Ali, Djibouti, Jeddah, Port Sudan, Djibouti, Tanjung Pelepas. This service was organised in July 2010. The 2,274-TEU ships are displaced to regional loops, including three of them joining the Inner Med service.
In another move, Maersk Line has organised a container service connecting directly the Morocco and Tunisian markets, with calls at Casablanca, Sfax and Tunis. Sailings are offered every two weeks with the 1,837-TEU Uranus.
Separately, Seago Line, the APM-Maersk intra-Europe arm, is boosting its Inner Med service with the replacement of the three 1,837 TEU ships of 2,274 TEU, which were shifted from the Horn of Africa service. The Inner Med service connects Algeciras, Tangier, Alexandria, Mersin, Haifa, Fos, Valencia and goes back to Algeciras.
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