Hamburg Sud and its Brazilian affiliate Alianca are restructuring their service between North Europe and the east coast of South America in response to what they call changing market conditions.
The restructured loop will deploy seven “Santa-class” vessels with capacities of 7,100 20-foot equivalent container units that are built specifically for this trade and feature 1,600 reefer plugs.
The port rotation of the revised service will be Rotterdam; Tilbury, England; Hamburg; Antwerp; Le Havre; Sepetiba, Santos and Paranagua, Brazil; Buenos Aires; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio Grande, Itapoa and Santos, Brazil; Tangier, Morocco; and back to Rotterdam.
The service also will offer port coverage on the northbound leg to the Brazilian ports of Paranagua, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Pecem through slot arrangements.
The reconfigured service, which starts in mid-April, will serve eastern and western Mediterranean and Middle East destinations via the hub port Tangier.
The Journal of Commerce Online