The Cap Palmerston became the first vessel on Hamburg Süd's newly expanded North America West Coast service (WAMS) to reach the Port of Hamburg this week, with the extended route also including some other ports in northern Europe.
The WAMS service has been linking the North American west coast and Central American west coast, including Mexico, with Cartagena in Colombia since the beginning of 2010, with Hamburg's container traffic with the region increasing by almost 16 per cent year-on-year.
'By including Hamburg in the expanded WAMS service, Hamburg Süd can now offer a fast, direct connection with comprehensive port coverage between northern Europe and the US west coast,' said Uwe Gaede, director area Germany, marketing and sales for Hamburg Süd.
'Moreover, the inclusion of the two hub ports of Tangia and Cartagena provides outstanding connections to the Caribbean Basin, the east and west coasts of South America and the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.'
The expanded service will use ten ships with a capacity of 1,700 TEU each, eight from Hamburg Süd and two from CCNI.
The port rotation takes a total of 70 days and includes calls at Hamburg, Le Havre, Cartagena, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Vancouver, Oakland, Long Beach, Manzanillo, Lazaro Cardenas, Puerto Quetzal, Cartagena, Tangier, Rotterdam, Tilbury and Hamburg.
