Bigger Safari vessels equal shorter transit times

ALAN PEAT
THE TWO line Safari consortium on the SA-Far East trade is busy deploying larger, faster vessels to its fleet, and expects the upgraded service to be fully up-and-running by May. Another adjustment made to the service by Safmarine and Maersk Line is the inclusion of an additional, direct port of call at Ningbo, China. The benefits of this upgrade, according to Safmarine’s SA trade executive, Alex de Bruyn, is that transit times between the two regions will be shortened and vessel capacity increased as a result of the deployment of the new, faster and larger tonnage. A significant feature of the revised Safari services, De Bruyn added, will be twice-weekly calls in Greater China, with both the main and second string Safari services offering direct calls. There has also been considerable juggling with the port rotations of both the Safari 1 and Safari 2 services, details of which are available from the lines.