Safmarine carrying more containers

Safmarine carrying more containers Safmarine, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk, carried about 590,000 TEUs of containers in the first half of 2007, about 14 percent more than in the first half of 2006, according to figures released today.
   Safmarine, which has its headquarters in Belgium and main U.S. office in Madison, N.J., said that rates were slightly above those in the first half of 2006 and costs were slightly lower.
   A.P. Moller-Maersk did not break out financial results for Safmarine from its other container businesses, but it said Safmarine’s net result was slightly lower when the same period in 2006, because the company had benefited last year from gains from the sales of ships.
   Safmarine said today it has named the fourth in a series of 4,150-TEU ships. The Safmarine Makutu, and its Panamax sister ships are being built by the Ulsan, South Korea shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries. The four ships are being deployed in Safmarine’s Safari 1 service between Asia and Southern Africa.
   Safmarine Makutu’s entry into service in September will replace a vessel of similar size already deployed to the service. The Safari services will maintain a 13-vessel service with seven vessels deployed on Safari 1 and six vessels on the Safari 2 services.
   The two Safari services offer the following port rotations:
   ' Safari 1:    Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Durban, Cape Town, Port Louis, Tanjung Pelepas and Hong Kong.
   ' Safari 2: Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Louis, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Hong Kong.
   Looking ahead to 2008, Safmarine said it will add seven new vessels to its owned fleet — five 2,474-TEU vessels to be built by Volkswerft Stralsund in Germany, and two 6,160-TEU vessels to be built by Hanjin.
   The company also plans to take delivery next year of six ships on long-term time charters. These are four Chinese-built, 12,000 dwt, multipurpose tweendeck vessels purpose-built for Safmarine’s West Africa MPV service, and two Japanese-built 1,600-TEU feeder vessels which join sister ships, the Safmarine Bandama and Safmarine Sanaga.