Maersk Line is upgrading its Middle East-South Africa-West Africa or Mesawa service by adding a direct call at Colombo, in an attempt to pick up additional cargo.

The weekly service will begin calling at Colombo, a major trans-shipment hub in the region, on September 13, according to a company trade notice.

The revised port rotation is as follows: Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates; Mundra and Jawaharlal Nehru, India; Durban, South Africa; Luanda, Angola; Apapa and Tincan, Nigeria; Cotonou, Benin; Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Durban; Port Louis, Mauritius and back to Jebel Ali.

The Mesawa currently employs a fleet of 10 ships, each with a capacity of around 3,500 20-foot-equivalent units. The estimated transit times from Colombo under the new rotation will be: nine days to Durban, 21 days to Luanda, 26 days to Apapa, 28 days to Tincan and 30 days to Cotonou, according to the advisory.

Port statistics compiled by JOC.com show Colombo handled 4.9 million TEUs in 2014, up 14 percent year-over-year, with trans-shipment volumes jumping 19 percent to 3.8 million TEUs from 3.2 million TEUs. Colombo’s throughput in July totalled 463,169 TEUs.