From April 2024, Hapag-Lloyd will strengthen its presence on the African continent, in particular by revamping its West Europe-West Africa (WWA) and West Africa Express (WAX) services.
Through the improved WWA and WAX services, Hapag-Lloyd will be able to open new direct routes from Northern Europe to the port of Tema in Ghana, while both services will cover the geographical coverage previously provided by the MWX service, which will be phased out .
The updated WWA service rotation will include the following ports:
Antwerp, Belgium - Le Havre, France - Lisbon, Portugal - Tangier Mediterranean, Morocco - Tema, Ghana - Pointe Noire, Congo - Luanda, Angola - Libreville, Gabon - Antwerp
The Port of Kribi in Cameroon will be connected to Hapag-Lloyd’s AWA service via the Port of Pointe-Noire in Congo.
The first ship to sail on the latest WWA rotation service will be the Liberian-flagged Dachan Bay Express, which is expected to arrive in Antwerp on 22 April 2024.
According to the German ocean shipping line, the rotation of WWA services will be modified to cover the South African citrus season, providing direct services from Durban and Koga to Northern Europe, with connections to North America and Southern Europe via Tangier. This extension from the end of May to September is known in the South African trade as the citrus link.
The new rollout of WAX service will cover the following ports:
Tangier Mediterranean, Morocco-Dakar, Senegal-Apapa, Nigeria-Tincan, Nigeria-Cotonou, Benin-Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire-Tema, Ghana-Tanger Mediterranean
The first ship to sail on the revised WAX service will be the Marshallese-flagged Vancouver Star, which is expected to arrive in the Tangier Med on April 21, 2024.
At the same time, the port rotation of the WA1 service remains unchanged, as follows:
Tangier Mediterranean, Morocco-Nouakchott, Mauritania-Conakry, Guinea-Freetown, Sierra Leone-Monrovia, Liberia-San Pedro, Côte d'Ivoire-Banjul, The Gambia.
