Less than a year after its launch, Grimaldi’s Far East–West Africa service has already become a key route within its network, so much so that the Group has recently invested in strengthening it, with Durban as its hub.
According to the company, speed, capacity, and efficiency remain the defining characteristics of this regular service dedicated to the transport of containers, rolling cargo, and project cargo between China, South Africa, and Nigeria.
Thanks to the deployment of four state-of-the-art ro-ro vessels (including the G5 class), there are now sailings every fifteen days from the Chinese ports of Ningbo and Taicang–Shanghai to Durban, and from there to Lagos.
The transit time offered by the Grimaldi Group from China to Durban is only 18 days. Similarly, the Italian shipping company considers the route to Lagos, Nigeria, with which it connects in 9 days, to be advantageous.
Durban has thus become a crucial hub for national trade flows, both for imports from China and for exports to West Africa.
Meanwhile, at the PTML in Lagos — the largest ro-ro terminal in West Africa, owned by the Grimaldi Group — cargo originating from China and South Africa can continue its journey with fast and frequent connections to the main ports of West Africa, including Abidjan, Tema, Douala, Dakar, and Casablanca, as well as to South America, in particular the Brazilian ports of Santos and Paranaguá.
