The Port of Hamburg is now connected with the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun after the inauguration of the new NC Levant Express container liner service.
According to Port of Hamburg Marketing, the first vessel on the new service, the CMA CGM White Shark, arrived at the Port on January 9 2021. In total five containerships with slot capacities of between 3,800 and 4,200 TEU, will be deployed.
The Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun will be served on the ‘NC LEVANT EXPRESS’ service by weekly sailings handled in Hamburg by EUROGATE Container Terminal.
After Hamburg, the ports called are: Antwerp, Le Havre, Tangier, Malta, Alexandria, Damietta, Beirut, Mersin, Iskenderun, Algeciras, Southampton, Rotterdam.
Peter Wolf, CEO of CMA CGM, said, “With the new ‘NC LEVANT EXPRESS’, we offer attractive transit times and excellent opportunities for transport between two important Turkish ports, the Eastern Med and five key ports in Europe.
“Hamburg is its Northern hub, splendidly located with its dense network of feeder services. Import and export cargoes can rapidly be transhipped onto or from feeders with Scandinavia and other countries in the Baltic region for onward shipment.”
Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing, also commented.
“We are delighted to have this new liner service in the Port of Hamburg,” Mattern said. “The trend in seaborne foreign trade with Turkey is extremely positive.
“Even before corona, in 2019 container transport between Hamburg and Turkey at 132,000 TEU, and seaborne cargo handling of 2.2 million tons, set a new handling record. We are also expecting a fresh record for 2020.” A total of nine liner services connect Hamburg with ports in Turkey. These consist of six container services, two multi-purpose services and one vehicle service.
