Senator Lines will increase its capacity on the Mediterranean Express Service MEX linking the Western Mediterranean region with the Middle East and Asia as from mid-May. The first vessel with the increased allocation of the Germany-based ocean carrier is the MOL Express, leaving Shanghai on May 20, 2008 on its westbound voyage to the Mediterranean.

The full port rotation of the weekly MEX service is: Genoa, Fos sur Mer, Valencia, Gioia Tauro, Jeddah, Khorfakkan, Singapore, Shanghai, Yantian, Singapore, Genoa.

"With the increase of our capacity on the MEX service, we can match the shipping allocation with the high demand and cargo volumes of our customers.

With a growth of more than 20% of the Mediterranean-Asia trade lanes last year, we believe that this is the right strategy to react to the market and to further increase our market share", says Hans-Hermann Mohr, CEO of Senator Lines GmbH.

Mark Ehlers, Director Operational Management at Senator Lines adds: "The MEX is a very attractive service for our customers since it features a wide port range with four calling ports in the Mediterranean as well as Jeddah and Khorfakkan in the constantly growing Middle East market, before heading to the Asian hub ports. On the eastbound voyages the string is very attractive for cargo into the Middle East, whilst westbound the connection from Asia directly into Fos is one of the strength of MEX. Thereby, we can link various growth markets with direct port pairs and offer attractive transit times."