German shipping group Hamburg Süd has announced that it is reconfiguring its services between North Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean in response to what it has called 'unfavourable trading conditions'.
The rationalisation of the service, due to take place in August, will see the existing two-sling concept reconfigured, a move which the group says will ensure comprehensive port coverage while achieving the desired rationalisation effect.
Changes will see the Northern Route Service to Turkey withdrawn, and the Southern Route Levante Service altered to include key ports from the Northern Service, with 2,500 TEU to 2,700 TEU vessels working on a rotation of Felixstowe, Antwerp, Hamburg, Tangiers, Alexandria, Limassol, Beirut, Latakia, Mersin, Izmir, Alexandria, Salerno, Felixstowe.
According to Hamburg Süd, the service will also feature dedicated connections to Tunisia, Algeria and western Med ports from Tangiers.
Meanwhile, an additional two weekly strings (Turkey and Israel Sling) are offered in cooperation with Seago Line, combining with the new Northern service to 'guarantee high service quality'.
