The trade between Europe and Central America, Caribbean and South America West Coast has always been a key element in Hamburg Süd's global network of liner services. In cooperation with Maersk, Hamburg Süd will be expanding and enhancing the services it offers on this core trade beginning in June 2019.

"Combining the strengths of Hamburg Süd and Maersk, we can offer our customers a best in class stand-alone service configuration without having to depend on vessel sharing agreements with other shipping companies," says Frank Smet, Chief Commercial Officer of Hamburg Süd. "This allows maximum flexibility towards the needs of the trade and our customers because we can design and operate the systems totally independently. This also allows us to make seasonal adjustments to cater to specific cargo flows, for example to reduce transit times for perishables or to call different ports on a direct basis if there is sufficient demand from our clients to do so."

The new stand-alone service covering Europe to/from Central America, Caribbean and South America West Coast (SAWC1) will provide operational integrity, high schedule reliability and additional features, such as:

Fast direct connection between the Chilean ports of San Vicente and San Antonio and North Europe
Improved links to global network through the hub ports of Balboa, Cartagena and Manzanillo; customers will have access to the market-leading global Maersk Group network including the US, Russian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ports
Increased South American port coverage with multiple services moving through the West Coast of South America; customers will now have services to/from an unparalleled number of ports in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia

Eight ships of the post Panamax class (4,500 TEU wide beam), will be deployed on SAWC1. With their 1,400 reefer plugs each, the vessels are ideally suited to cover the requirements of the trade.

In addition, Hamburg Süd will continue to have access to the existing Eurosal service (SAWC2), providing coverage for ports in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, while also maintaining a direct connection to/from the French port of Le Havre.

The first northbound sailing of the new SAWC1 service is scheduled to be on June 10, 2019, with the "Luna Maersk" departing from San Antonio. The first southbound sailing is Lexa Maersk with ETD from Antwerp on June 6, 2019.

Hamburg Süd