FRENCH shipping giant, Marseille-based container line CMA CGM, has announced an upgrade to its service network from Europe to West Africa, reports Greece's Container News.

With the changes, Casablanca will now be exclusively served through the company's Wazzan service, offering a direct weekly connection to Dakar, Senegal.

Sierra Leone's port of Freetown will transition to the Medwax service, while Dakar will move to the Wazzan service, with both benefiting from extensive coverage via the Gibraltar hub.

The new Bijagos service will focus on the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau markets, providing competitive transit times.

The Wazzan service will operate on a 28-day rotation, with the following ports of call: Casablanca (Morocco), Algeciras (Spain), Tanger (Morocco), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Dakar (Senegal), Nouadhibou (Mauritania), Las Palmas (Spain) and Canary Islands).

The first departure from Casablanca is expected on October10.

The Bijagos service will run on a 35-day rotation with the following rotation: Algeciras (Spain), Tanger (Morocco), Dakar (Senegal), Banjul (The Gambia) and Bissau (Guinea-Bissau).

The first departure is expected on October 14 from the port of Algeciras.

The Medwax service will operate on a 28-day rotation as follows: Algeciras (Spain), Tanger (Morocco), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Conakry (Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia) and San Pedro (Cote d'Ivoire).

The first departure from Algeciras is expected on October 2.

The EURAF 4 service will run on a 42-day rotation with the following rotation: Valencia (Spain), Algeciras (Spain), Tanger (Morocco), Lome (Togo), Bata (Equatorial Guinea), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Kribi (Cameroon) and Libreville (Gabon).

The first departure from Valencia is expected on October 6.

https://www.shippingazette.com/news?news_id=9240900000562