New Asia-Europe service to pass through Freeport

A containership of Sunda Express, the fixed-day weekly service linking Asia and Europe, called for the first time at the Malta Freeport yesterday.

This service will be operated by CMA-CGM Group and Norasia Container Lines, both major clients of the Freeport and APL, a member of New World Alliance.

Sunda Express will be served with seven vessels, with a capacity of around 3,000 TEUs each.

The rotation of the service will be Jakarta, Singapore, Port Klang, Malta Freeport, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Piraeus and Jakarta.

The Freeport also said in a statement that the internationally renowned shipping line APL has chosen the freeport's facilities for its transshipment operations in the Mediterranean.

APL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines and the carrier decided to start calling at Malta Freeport in a two-fold arrangement. APL joined two major clients of the freeport in the creation of the Sunda Express and it has also reached an agreement with the CMA-CGM Group to use its slots for vessels that operate between China and the freeport.

Lloyd's List recently reported that Gioia Tauro, Malta Freeport's major competitor, has lost the custom of the New World Alliance members, namely APL, MOL and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Indeed, the New World Alliance members pulled their Asia-Europe Express string out of Gioia Tauro last month and informed the terminal's owner, Contship Italia, that the remaining Japan/Asia-Mediterranean/Northern Europe string would also cease calling at Gioia Tauro at the end of this month.

Lloyd's List said that the departure of these two strings would reduce Gioia Tauro's traffic volumes by an estimated 50,000 containers next year.

APL's fleet of no more than 80 containerships serves more than 12,000 locations in 140 countries and services are available to and from north, south and west Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, east and sub-Saharan Africa and Australia.

APL deploys over 450,000 containers and chassis worldwide ensuring that containers are available in the size and configuration needed.

The shipping line has offices in more than 80 countries worldwide. APL's sister company, SPL Logistics, specialises in supply chain management services.

The Freeport said this year was proving to be another successful one for the company and would exceed last year's record breaking figure of over 1.24 million TEUs.