DHL Launches New Ocean Freight Lanes to Africa

SINGAPORE, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --

• Less than Container Load network expanded by additional lanes from Bremen to Ghana, Kenya and South Africa
• Energy, automotive and manufacturing sectors benefit from the new services

DHL Global Forwarding, the Deutsche Post DHL Group's specialist for air and ocean freight, has established three new direct connections between Germany and the African continent. Transit times for Less Than Container Load (LCL) shipments on the three new lanes between Bremen and Tema (Ghana), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mombasa (Kenya) will be shortened by 5 to 6 days.

Amadou Diallo, CEO, Africa and South Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding, said, "In 2010, Germany exported some 20 billion Euros worth of goods to Africa(1). The new LCL services to Tema, Cape Town and Mombasa will help German companies transport their goods faster to Africa, enabling more efficient trade. These new direct ocean freight lanes allow additional savings of up to 10% in CO2, when compared with the previous offering."

"Movement of goods between Germany and Africa is on the upswing. We note a growing demand among our customers for transports to these emerging countries. Our LCL services take account of this demand," says Peter Grabsch, LCL Gateway Manager Ocean Freight Germany.

Marc Meier, Senior Vice President, Ocean Freight & Head of Global LCL, DHL Global Forwarding, said, "German companies from the energy, automotive and manufacturing sectors have long been conducting business in Africa, and have benefited from the existing Full Container Load services. They can now benefit from the expansion of the LCL network to three important new destinations in Africa."

DHL currently operates the world's largest LCL network with close to 2,000,000 cubic meters of LCL freight handled annually via 45,000 point-pairs. As a global leader in LCL, DHL carries more than 97 per cent of its total volumes in house. The in-house systems and strong global network enables the control of cargo flow, information flow, speed, accuracy, cost efficiency and reliability. Going beyond port to port, DHL LCL service also offers a complete end-to-end supply chain management that includes pick-up at origin, consolidation and deconsolidation, delivery at destination and customs clearance.

All LCL services are accompanied by DHL's first-class IT solutions such as DHL Track & Trace and other tools to allow full visibility throughout the whole supply chain. For complete peace of mind, DHL also provides insurance services to customers as a value-added service. DHL's Shippers Interest Insurance (SII) covers losses or damages of all cargo transported by DHL, as well as transportation costs.

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DHL - The Logistics company for the world

DHL is the global market leader in the logistics industry and "The Logistics company for the world". DHL commits its expertise in international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and about 275,000 employees worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting climate protection, disaster management and education.

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenue of more than 51 billion euros in 2010.

For more information: www.dp-dhl.com