German-based transportation firm Hapag-Lloyd announced Meridian Port Services (MPS) Terminal 3 at Tema Port as its transhipment hub in West Africa. Tema Port was announced as the firm’s transhipment hub at a press conference held in Cape Town, according to a regional media report.
MPS Terminal 3 has enhanced Tema Port’s container storage, reefer facility, handling equipment capacity.
It marks the launch of a new shipment service to Africa. The new shipment service known as Middle East-India-Africa Express (MIIAX) had is first departure this month.
The MIIAX service will follow this rotational sequence from Jebel Ali to Mundra to Nhava Sheva to Colombo to La Réunion to Durban to Cape Town to Tema followed by Lagos and then back to Cape Town, Durban and Jebel Ali.
Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd’s Middle East Region, told the media that, “With the new MIAX service, our customers will now benefit from an even wider range of fast and flexible direct connections.”
Tema Port is the largest port in Ghana, situated on the eastern coast of the country. The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is reinforcing its position as a hub port through other cargo flows in Terminal 1 and 2.
In June, freight forwarders at Tema Port were against a proposed 10.9 percent port tariff increase by MPS. According to media reports, MPS is handling the Tema Port expansion project. Tema Port will become the largest cargo port in West Africa with a capacity of 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units per annum.
MPS owns 70 percent of the project while the remaining 30 percent is owned by GPHA. Also, GPHA will continue to seek investments in port infrastructure to lure global trade into Africa.