Less than a year after its launch, Grimaldi’s Far East–West Africa service has already become one of the group’s key trade corridors, prompting new investments to further strengthen its speed, capacity and efficiency. The service, dedicated to the transport of containers, rolling cargo and project cargo, links China with South Africa and Nigeria.
Grimaldi now deploys four latest-generation con-ro vessels, including G5-class ships, offering departures every 15 days from Ningbo and Taicang–Shanghai to Durban, before continuing to Lagos. The group currently provides the fastest transit time on the market from China to Durban at just 18 days, followed by a nine-day sailing from Durban to Lagos.
Durban has rapidly developed into a central hub for trade flows, handling both imports from China and exports to West Africa. The service also benefits from seamless onward connections via the PTML terminal in Lagos, the largest ro-ro facility in West Africa and owned by the Grimaldi Group.
Through Lagos, cargo originating from China and South Africa can be transshipped to major West African ports—including Abidjan, Tema, Douala, Dakar and Casablanca—as well as to South America, with links to key Brazilian ports such as Santos and Paranaguá.
