ZIM has introduced a new service in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea region, named Levant – Black Sea Express (LBX), which is planned to commence on 6 October.
The Israeli shipping company will be the sole operator of the new service, deploying three container vessels, each one with a nominal capacity of 1,200TEU, a ZIM spokesman told Container News.
The service rotation of Levant – Black Sea Express service will be: Port Said East – Alexandria – Mersin – Novorossiysk – Constanta – Aliaga – Mersin – Haifa – Port Said East
ZIM describes the LBX service as “a significant upgrade of its East Mediterranean & Black Sea Network,” while it is designed to enhance and extend the scope of the carrier’s services in the region through wider port coverage and synchronisation with its mainliners connecting to Asia and America.
The Haifa-based company said that the new service will offer an improved service to Romania with a better transit time, a direct service between Egypt and Turkey to the Black Sea, a reefer cargo service from Egypt and Turkey to Black Sea Ports, with additional capacity for the Russian market and enhanced coverage and additional calls in Turkey.
“The introduction of the new LBX service is taking our regional network to a new level, with enhanced scope and coverage and smooth connections to mainliners,” commented Rani Ben-Yehuda, ZIM’s executive vice president Cross Suez and Atlantic trades.
