Safmarine's Safari shipping services between the Far East and South Africa are to be upgraded following the deployment of new larger, faster vessels and the inclusion of an additional, direct port of call at Ningbo, China. The service upgrades are set to come into effect in April and May this year.
According to SA Trade Executive, Alex de Bruyn, 'The Safari services are currently the most reliable dedicated shipping services between South Africa and the Far East and these upgrades will improve the services even further, thereby meeting customer demands for fast, reliable shipping services.'
Transit times between the two regions have shortened and vessel capacity increased as a result of the deployment of new, faster and larger tonnage.
'The 4,154 teu Safmarine Meru and Safmarine Mulanje were introduced into Safari 1 at the beginning of 2007 and a further two, yet to be named, vessels will be part of the service by mid-May,' de Bruyn said.
A significant feature of the revised Safari services will be twice-weekly calls in Greater China, with both the main and second string Safari services offering direct calls.
Transit times: Examples of the market-leading transit times include:
- Shanghai to Durban - 18 days
- Yantian to Durban - 13 days
- Durban to Hong Kong ' 16 days
Rotation:
Safari 1:
- Current rotation: Durban ' Port Elizabeth ' Cape Town ' Port Louis ' Tanjung Pelepas ' Singapore ' Hong Kong ' Shanghai ' Koishung ' Hong Kong ' Yantian - TPP ' Port Louis ' Durban (Eight vessels)
- Revised rotation (as of April 8, 2007): Durban - Cape Town - Port Louis - Tanjung Pelepas - Yantian - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Tanjung Pelepas - Durban (Seven vessels)
Safari 2:
- Current rotation: Port Elizabeth 'Durban ' Singapore ' Tanjung Pelepas ' Port Elizabeth (Five vessels)
- Revised rotation (as of mid-May 2007): Port Elizabeth - Durban - Hong Kong - Tanjung Pelepas - Port Louis - Port Elizabeth (Six vessels)
