Maersk’s Masiika speeds up, shifts to Mombasa

   The ocean carrier Maersk Line has switched from calling Dar es Salaam in favor of a new call at Mombasa and speeded up its Masiika Express service between the Middle East and East Africa, decreasing roundtrip voyage time from 35 days to 28 days. 
   This move could have been motivated in part by Maersk’s temporary suspension of its dedicated Salalah-Mombasa feeder service Mombasa Express, which skips several sailing positions in the second half of April and the entire month of May, effectively suspending the loop until early June. Maersk had upgraded the Mombasa Express back in December, more than doubling capacity on the service and improving its frequency to about five days from nine days previously (reported by American Shipper Dec. 30).
   Transit times on the Masiika Express have decreased by about six days southbound from the Middle East to East Africa and about four days northbound, now taking seven days in either direction between Mombasa and Maersk’s major Middle East hub in Salalah, Oman. The revised rotation of the Masiika Express is Sharjah, Dubai, Salalah, Mombasa, Salalah, and Sharjah. 
   The service is currently operated with four vessels, two each from Maersk and subsidiary Safmarine, with an average capacity of 2,506 TEUs.
   Maersk currently offers direct calls at Mombasa on two other services: its Dubai-Mombasa EAF4 shuttle; and its dedicated Tanjung Pelepas-Mombasa and Dar es Salaam service Mashariki Express, which the carrier recently increased in speed as well (reported by American Shipper Apr 18). — ComPair Data, Ben Meyer