EWL launches Europe–Caribbean service

EWL will call at Halifax every nine days as part of a three-year agreement with Halterm Ltd, operator of the South End Container Terminal. A fleet of five vessels will operate on the service, which originates in Rotterdam and will call at Hamburg, Felixstowe and Bilbao before arriving at Halifax, its nominated North American port of call for both import and export cargo. The service will convert to fixed-day weekly departures in January 2007, when additional tonnage is deployed.

Direct ports of call after Halifax are Philipsburg, Port of Spain, La Guaira, Porto Cabello, Willemstad, Cartagena, Porto Cortes and Santo Tomas de Castilla. Dedicated feeder vessels and connections with other services will allow EWL to offer some of the fastest transit times available into 48 other ports of call, the company claims.

EWL is offering all types of equipment on the route, including 20 ft and 40 ft dry vans, open tops, high cubes, flat racks and reefers. Founded in 1985, EWL is a member company of the Rotterdam-based Wethold International BV.