Shipping Company Opens New Route Linking Nhava Sheva, India, to Nacala, Mozambique

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Shipping Company Opens New Route Linking Nhava Sheva, India, to Nacala, Mozambique

3:04 CAT | 13 Jan 2016

www.cma-cgm.com / Port coverage is as follows: Nhava Sheva - Khor Fakkan - Jebel Ali - Longoni - Dar Es Salaam - Zanzibar - Nacala [fortnightly call] - Port Victoria - Nhava Sheva.

The international shipping company CMA CGM has announced that it is adding the northern Mozambican port of Nacala to its regular container service known as the “Swahili Express”.

The service will begin on 20 January when the container ship Kumasi arrives at Nacala.

The Swahili Express starts from the Indian port of Nhava Sheva and then sails to Khor Fakkan and Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates. It then passes through Longoni in Mayotte, and Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania, before arriving in Nacala. The ships then return to India via the Seychelles.

The introduction of this regular service reinforces Nacala’s growing role as a transport hub. The port currently serves commercial operators and farmers both locally and in neighbouring Malawi.

The port has recently undergone a major modernisation project funded through a loan from the Japanese government. The first phase has been completed at a cost of 84 million US dollars. This included repairing the north pier and paving the container terminal. The second phase is due to begin later this year and will cost 270 million US dollars.

The Swahili Express service will open the gates to two of the world’s most important container terminals. The port of Nhava Sheva is the largest container terminal in India, whilst Jebel Ali is the world’s largest man-made harbour and is an international hub for the transhipment of containers.

Nacala has become a focus of huge infrastructure investments. Across the bay from the port is the new port of Nacala-a-Velha which this month will begin receiving coal transported along the brand new 900 kilometre long railway line linking it with the coal fields of Tete. Together, the railway and port cost around 4.5 billion US dollars.

In addition, in December Nacala International Airport was awarded certification for international operations. It will thus open to international traffic later this year.

Source: AIM, by John Hughes