ZIM Upgrades East Mediterranean Links

ZIM Israels shipping company ZIM plans to restructure and upgrade its Turkey Greece Express (TGX) and Turkey Israel Express (TIX) services in the East Mediterranean, starting from late November. The company intends to add the ports of Aliaga (Turkey ), Damietta (Egypt), Iskenderun (Turkey) and Ashdod (Israel) to its schedule. The newly introduced Thessaloniki to Damietta link will cater for the growing reefer trade on this route, offering a fast transit time and fixed window in Damietta, ZIM said. Port rotation of the TGX service will be as follows: Haifa (Israel), Antalya, Mersin (Turkey), Piraeus, Thessaloniki (Greece), Izmir (Turkey), Damietta (Egypt), Haifa. The TIX service will call the following ports: Piraeus (Greece), Istanbul, Izmit, Gemlik, Aliaga (Turkey), Piraeus, Mersin, Iskenderun (Turkey), Ashdod, Haifa (Israel), Piraeus. The company is deploying two 1,600 TEU vessels in the TGX service and two 2,800 TEU ships in the TIX service. The enhanced services are scheduled to start on November 28, 2016.