Hapag-Lloyd has plans to restructure its West Africa service network, including its West Africa Service and West Africa Mediterranean Express, in June and July.
At the end of June, the carrier will merge both WAX and WMX products into a single service by directly calling at the port of Apapa in Lagos, Nigeria, as well as adding a second northbound call at Algeciras, Spain, to the rotation. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd will reinstate a direct U.K. call to the schedule of the enhanced West Africa service by mid-July.
The revised port rotation will be as follows: Antwerp, Belgium; Hamburg, Germany; London Gateway; Algeciras; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos; Tema, Ghana; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Algeciras; and Antwerp.
The first sailing of the first phase of restructuring (adding calls at Lagos and Algeciras) will be the Frisia Helsinki, voyage 1409s, with an estimated time of shipping from Antwerp on June 24. The first sailing of the second phase (adding a call at London Gateway) will be the Frisia Lubeck, voyage 1410s, with an estimated time of shipping from London on July 22.
Additionally, the direct service to Cotonou, Benin, will be suspended for the time being.
The Journal of Commerce