DANISH global container giant Maersk is to focus on its African services by improving coverage on its Middle East-Indian Ocean/East Africa services by replacing current services IOI and MESA.

It aims to begin the new Mawingu Express in early April by replacing existing service calls of IOI to Salalah, Port Victoria, Reunion, Port Louis, Toamasina, Salalah and MESA's Durban, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Jawarhalal Nehru Port (JNP), Durban.

Its new Mawingu Express will now offer weekly sailings to introducing Mumbai-JNP, Port Qasim, Salalah, Mombasa, Port Victoria and back to JNP instead.

Its new MISA service will create a loop creating its first direct call to Pakistan to connect the Middle East-Indian Ocean/South African services with an inaugural sailing by Maersk Izmir 3,460 TEU from Jebel Ali on April 7.

The service will deploy four vessels of average capacity 2,200 TEU to 2,500 TEU with the following port rotation: Durban, Port Elizabeth, Port Louis, Jebel Ali, Salalah, Reunion, Port Louis, Toamasina and back to Durban.

Maersk has already increased capacity on its African services following 2011 volume increase of 19 per cent in order to channel investments outside western Europe as it seeks to benefit from more "stable" container rates, said the carrier.