Hapag-Lloyd Bolsters East Mediterranean Links

German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd is launching a new Turkey Israel Express Service (TIX) to boost its port coverage in the eastern Mediterranean, with the first ship in this weekly service leaving Turkey’s port of Mersin on May 5.

The TIX will initially link five ports in Egypt, Israel and Turkey, including the hub ports of Damietta, Port Said, Mersin and Haifa. From the end of June, Hapag will add Turkey’s port of Iskenderun to the service.

The weekly service will be operated with one vessel with an operational capacity of 810 TEU including 150 reefer plugs. The port rotation will be Damietta – Port Said (East) – Mersin -Iskenderun (from end of June) – Haifa – Damietta.

The launch of TIX will also change the port rotation of Hapag’s  two existing services in the Mediterranean.

The new port rotation of the Levante Express Service (LEX) will be: Cagliari – Genoa – Leghorn -Naples – Salerno – Cagliari – Alexandria – Damietta – Mersin – Izmir – Cagliari; while the new port rotation of the Adriatic Express Service (ADX) will be: Damietta – Rijeka – Koper -Venice – Ancona – Bari (from June) – Port Said (East) – Damietta.