Swire upgrades Europe/Oceania/Pacific Islands link

Swire upgrades Europe/Oceania/Pacific Islands link    Swire Shipping is upgrading vessels on its Westabout Round the World service linking Europe with the Pacific region.
   The existing vessels will be phased out starting in July and replaced by faster, more modern multipurpose vessels and the service will be rebranded as the Europe Pacific Service (EPS), the carrier said.
   'The new vessels will offer significantly enhanced transit times as a result of their speed, and will also provide better operating efficiencies and an increase in container intake and conventional cargo capacity,' Swire said.
   Specifically transit times to Papeete and Noumea will be reduced and a direct call to Brisbane will be added. The northbound service will offer greater port coverage in Australia and New Zealand.
   'Cargo routed on the existing northbound WRTW trade from the Pacific and Southeast Asian regions to Europe will be accommodated on our existing services ex-Asia, with on-carriage in Singapore if applicable for direct delivery to European and Mediterranean ports of call,' Swire said. 'We will announce further details on the Asia to Europe movement in the coming few weeks.'
   The new service will use three 1,150-TEU vessels on a monthly frequency. The rotation is Hamburg, Antwerp, Dunkerque and Le Havre, Papeete, Noumea, Algeciras, Brisbane, Port Kembla, Bluff, Melbourne, Adelaide and transshipment services to Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and other Pacific Island destinations.
   The service handles container, conventional breakbulk, project and heavy-lift cargo.