Allalouf & Co. Shipping Ltd.local agency for Grimaldi Lines informed last week that as from next July, 2011 the Mediterranean Express service (MEX) operated by the Grimaldi Group, linking the Mediterranean to West Africa, will be further strengthened.
The upgrade will start on the 4th of July with the delivery by the Uljanik shipyards of Pula (Croatia) of the ro-multipurpose vessel Grande Costa D'Avorio, which will be deployed, for its maiden voyage, on the MEX service to replace the current m/v Eurocargo Istanbul.
This newbuilding has a length overall of 214 meters, a breadth of 32.25 metres, a gross tonnage of 50,000 tonnes and a service speed of 20 knots. Its ideal cargo intake is 1,500 cars/vans, 2,500 linear meters of rolling freight and TEU800. Thanks to the deployment of the new vessel, the MEX service will increase by about 40% its loading capacity, both for containers and rolling freight, while the frequency will be improved.
Dedicated to the transport of rolling freight, containers and project cargo, the "Mediterranean Express" service (MEX) directly connects the Mediterranean area with West Africa. With regular departures every 18 days, this line serves directly the ports of Salerno, Genoa, Marseilles, Valencia, Casablanca(Morocco), Dakar (Senegal), Lome (Togo), Lagos (Nigeria) Cotonou (Benin) and Tema (Ghana).. Moreover, the whole Mediterranean is linked with other ports of Africa thanks to the Grimaldi regular services from the Group's terminal in Dakar.
Ports served in transhipment are Banjul (Gambia), Conakry (Guinea), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Monrovia (Liberia), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Doula (Cameroon), Boma (Democratic Republic of Congo), Pointe Noire (Congo-Brazzaville) and Luanda (Angola).
