Safmarine MPV enhances Europe-West Africa Services

Multi-purpose shipping line Safmarine MPV has enhanced its Europe-West Africa service with the launch of ENERGY, a new, dedicated service which, in the words of Line Director, Capt. Jean-Marc Thiebaut, “perfectly represents what Safmarine MPV stands for and that is to provide the oil and gas industry with a premium shipping service to West Africa.”

According to Safmarine MPV Managing Director, Jorg Knuttel: “The launch of the new ENERGY service and the merger of two existing Safmarine MPV services, the ACE and OPEX services, to create the INDUSTRY service, represent a significant milestone for Safmarine MPV. “Since becoming an independent and separate business unit within The Maersk Group a year ago, our goal has been to build a strong foundation for Safmarine MPV and to establish a product portfolio that allows us to better serve our growing customer base in the oil and gas and multi-purpose markets. And this is a goal we believe we have achieved by launching the new service and merging two former services.” According to Thiebaut, the ENERGY service was positively received by the industry when it was first introduced at the recent Breakbulk Europe conference and exhibition held in May. “The service, which has a frequency of every 18 days, will make direct calls at Aberdeen (UK), Antwerp (Belgium) and Portugal before calling the Nigerian port of Onne and Luanda, Sonils, Soyo and Lobito in Angola. “Transit times will also be significantly shorter than those currently available.” The INDUSTRY service – which combines the strengths of the former ACE and OPEX services – will also offer a fast, direct liner service for industrial projects, conventional cargo and containers between Europe and selected ports in West Africa. “This service will offer the fastest transit times out of Europe into Port Gentil (Gabon) and Equatorial Guinea and will also call selected ports in Nigeria, the Congo’s and Cameroon,” says Thiebaut.