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Moizhusein | Dreamstime.com
Hapag-Lloyd has signed a deal with DP World to secure long-term access to terminal capacity at three of the port operator’s current African terminals and two under-development facilities.
“Africa is one of Hapag-Lloyd’s most important growth markets, and we see significant long-term potential across the continent,” said Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen.
“To support this growth, we need reliable infrastructure, sufficient terminal capacity and a network that can scale with our customers.
“By strengthening our cooperation with DP World across the African continent, we are taking an important step to further improve the foundations of our service offering in Africa,” he added.
The three existing ports included in the agreement comprise the Senegalese gateway Dakar, Luanda in Angola and the east coast hub of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
According to Xeneta’s eeSea liner database, currently the sole Hapag-Lloyd service to call at Dakar is its WA1 feeder string; while Dar Es Salaam hosts two Asia-east Africa services, the EA2 and EAS4, in which the German carrier is a tonnage provider; and at Luanda it currently calls with the WNFa feeder service, the South America-Africa SAT string, and its standalone Europe-West Africa WWA service.
In addition, it said it would “support the development of key port infrastructure in Banana (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Maputo (Mozambique)”, suggesting it would provide the base cargoes for these facilities when DP World launches operations.
Although all of these strings are outside the Gemini Cooperation with Maersk, the focus on securing terminal capacity is clearly an extension of a key Gemini philosophy.
“Hapag-Lloyd expects its transport volumes in Africa to exceed one million teu in 2026,” the company said.
“Building on this momentum, the company will continue to strengthen its network across the continent, with a clear focus on reliable services, sufficient capacity and consistently high quality for its customers,” it added.
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