Container carriers Evergreen Line, CMA CGM and Emirates Shipping Line entered a slot exchange agreement on their Asia-Southeast Africa (ASEF) routes, Evergreen announced today.

The deal will take effect in December together with Evergreen’s adjustment to its existing Asia-East Africa (AEF) joint service.

According to Evergreen, these moves will double the carrier’s sailing frequency on the AEF trade to twice weekly, one dedicated to Mombasa, Kenya, and the other one to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The AEF route, which is to take effect as of the Singapore sailing on 6 December, will have the port rotation of Port Klang, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Colombo, Mombasa and Port Klang. Five 2,500–2,800teu box ships (three by Evergreen, one by COSCO and the other by X-Press Feeders) will be deployed for this service.

Meanwhile, the ASEF route, effective as of the Singapore sailing on 9 December, will be deployed with six 2,500–2,800teu container vessels (four by CMA CGM and two by Emirates Shipping Line), with the new port rotation of Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang, Colombo, Dar Es Salaam and Singapore.

These arrangements will enable Evergreen to offer a more comprehensive service on the Asia-East Africa trade, and enhance the service performance, said the carrier.