The South Africa Europe Container Service on Feb. 15 will introduce an additional reefer service for the anticipated seasonal increase in refrigerated exports, which it first announced on Nov. 4.

The members of SAECS said it will launch the Reefer Express (REX) with the first sailing of the DAL Madagascar from Cape Towny, South Africa.

The REX service is an additional ‘purely reefer’ container service designed to provide added capacity for refrigerated exports during the peak reefer season months of February to August.

The REX vessels will call Cape Towny, Rotterdamy (Uniport), Tilbury, and back to Cape Towny with transit time comparable to the SAECS core service.

The REX service will be flexible in terms of frequency and ports of call according to the seasonal demands of the perishable/refrigerated products market and will supplement the capacity provided by the main weekly SAECS core service.

The SAECS member lines include Safmarine, Maersk Line, Deutsche Afrika Linien and MOL.

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• SAECS expands service to the season start Reefer

     The Southern Africa Europe Container Service (SAECS) Lines will introduce an additional container service to accommodate the seasonal increase in refrigerated exports from South Africa to Europe during the period February to August 2010.

• OOCL imposed Peak Season Surcharge

     OOCL has announced a peak season surcharge on shipments of westbound refrigerated cargo from Europe to Montrealy. The carrier said that with the onset of the winter peak season for reefer cargo, the demand for reefer plugs on westbound sailings from Europe to Montrealy exceeds supply. The surcharge will be $400 per

• MOL Reefer hikes prices

     MOL in January will increase ocean freight rates in two phases for all refrigerated cargo exported from the United States and Canada to Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. The general rate increase is meant to offset the slide in rates throughout the past year even as operating

• Eurotunnel launches new reefer service between Spain and the UK

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• Trans-Pacific carriers to hike prices Westbound

     Shipping lines that carry U.S. exports to Asia intend to increase their freight rates effective April 1 in a continuing attempt to recover from last year’s recessionary rate levels. The Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a discussion group of 10 carriers in the trade from the U.S. to Asia, said its member

• MISC extension of the Asia-Port Cover

    Seatrade Insider understands from industry sources that MISC plans to launch a new service to compliment its current Halal Express Services.? The new service is intended to expand MISC’s Intra Asia port coverage. With the new loop, it is believed MISC will offer the fastest transit from North East Asia

• Maersk to increase Europe-Africa Rates

     Danish carrier Maersk Line said it is raising rates from northern Europe and western Mediterranean to West Africa beginning Oct. 1. Rates from northern Europe and West Mediterranean to West Africa will increase 150 euros ($217) per TEU or 20-foot reefer, and 270 euros ($391) per FEU or 40-foot reefer. From the

• Crowley Adds Third Central America Sailing

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• Pipavav Port ties up with Malaysian Shipping Co

    Port Pipavav has tied up with the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC, Berhad) for bringing in reefer (refrigerated containers) cargo through their ships to the Gujarat-based port. MISC Berhad, a subsidiary of Petronas, Malaysia, is a leading international shipping line of Malaysia and currently berths ships at Nhava Sheva in Mumbai. Port Pipavav

• CMA CGM is reefer surcharge

     CMA CGM and its affiliates Delmas, MacAndrews, ANL, U.S. Lines and Cheng Lie said they would introduce a ‘reefer consumption surcharge’ on Oct. 16 in U.S. inbound and outbound trades and Oct. 1 in all other trades. ‘CMA CGM and subsidiaries have so far not been billing the additional reefer consumption

• MISC to launch a new intra-Asia service

    MISC plans to launch a new service in the Intra-Asia trade to complement the current Halal Express Service (HES). The new service will be operating with six 4500 TEU vessel making calls at strategic ports within Asia. The vessel will also be well equipped with reefer facilities to cater the growing

• MOL Adds ports to Asia-South America Rotation

     MOL said it will revise the port coverage on its Asia-East Coast South America Service by adding calls at Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Pusan and Shanghai. The revised port rotation of the CSW service is Xingang, Dalian Qingdao, Pusany, Shanghaiy, Hong Kongy, Singapore, Durbany, Santosy, Buenos Airesy, Montevideoy, Paranagua, Sao Francisco

• Hamburg Sud launches new Middle East Chicken Run

    To serve the insatiable Middle East appetite for more chicken, German container carrier Hamburg Sud has launched a new Middle East to Brazil service that will cut down transit times and offer a much wider range of options for Middle East importers and exporters than currently exists. From November 1

• Maersk to increase prices in North and South America trades

        Maersk Line said it is raising rates on a host of Western Hemisphere trades, a response to “unacceptable rate levels” that is “unsustainable in the longer term.”    The rate hikes are:    • East Coast South America to Central America, Caribbean and West Coast South America, $150 per TEU and

• Star Reefers Profit Dives

    Star Reefers, a leading refrigerated ship-owner, said net income slumped 60 percent in 2009 from the previous year because of the bankruptcy of a Russian charterer, lower freight rates and increased competition from container vessels. Income fell to $16.2 million from $42.4 million on net revenue of $205.5 million against