EMEA News
Larger Ships for Asia-West Africa Trade
NileDutch has chartered its largest-ever vessels, two gearless Panamax ships, for its East Asia-South Africa-Angola service, according to a report published by industry news site SeaNews Turkey.
The 4,380 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) Stadt Marburg, controlled by Thien & Heyenga, will start operations in late March, and the 4,252 TEU Osaka Tower, controlled by EP Shipping, will begin in early April.
The shipping line is likely to increase its use of larger vessels as competitors also introduce bigger ships on the Asia-West Africa trade.
The ships are chartered at $7,000, below the $9,500 NileDutch typically pays for 3,000 to 3,500 TEU geared vessels.
The carrier has four of its own 3,500 TEU newbuildings scheduled for delivery from Shanghai Shipyard this year, and it plans to use them to replace chartered tonnage on the East Asia-South Africa-Angola service.
Industry watchers are predicting that the addition of the largest-ever ships on Asia-Europe routes will have a cascading effect, pushing the next-largest groups of ships onto other trade lanes including Asia-Africa.
NileDutch, which focuses on routes between West Africa and other parts of the world, recently announced that it had formally changed its name from Sud Maritime.
