Hapag-Lloyd announced the enhancement of its Asia-East Africa connections with a new service. The new East Africa Service 3 (EAS3) will offer direct weekly sailings between China, South-East Asia, Kenya and Tanzania with faster transit times, according to the company’s statement. It will be launched in late April aiming to offer its customers improved connectivity between Asia and East Africa. In addition, the EAS3 will offer connections to Hapag-Lloyd’s global network via the hub ports of Singapore, Port Kelang and Shanghai. Seven 2,800 TEU vessels will be deployed in the service, including two provided by Hapag-Lloyd.
Hapag-Lloyd entered the Sub-Sahara African market about 13 years ago with growth in transported volumes to and from Africa since then. In East Africa, the China Kenya Express Service (CKX) connects Kenya with ports in Asia, such as Singapore and Shanghai, while the East Africa Service 2 (EAS2) connects the East African country with the west coast of India and Jebel Ali in Dubai. In March 2021, Hapag-Lloyd also opened a new office in Kenya, while the main business will be managed from the port city of Mombasa, the company will also have an office in Nairobi.
“Hapag-Lloyd has been steadily expanding its business in East Africa in recent years as part of our strategic focus on selected growth markets worldwide,” said Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director Region Middle East at Hapag-Lloyd. “Our new EAS3 service will create a new option for our customers and help us to forge even stronger connections between this flourishing region and the rest of the world.”
Hapag-Lloyd now has five own offices on the continent in total: in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. In addition, it recently opened a Quality Service Centre in Mauritius.
Source: Hapag-Lloyd
