Maersk will restructure its Europe–West Africa container network across seven mainline rotations from October 2026, adding Port Said, Lomé and Pointe-Noire as new coverage points and reorganising connections through major West and Central African hubs.

What does the new rotation look like?

The carrier's revised schedule replaces the existing WAF lineup with rebuilt point-to-point loops:

• WAF 2: Algeciras – Tangier – Dakar
• WAF 3: Port Said – Algeciras – Tangier – Lomé – Abidjan – Tema – Apapa
• WAF 6: Port Said – Tangier – Algeciras – Tema – Apapa – Pointe-Noire
• WAF 7: Tangier – Conakry
• WAF 9B/C: Algeciras – Leixões – Lisbon – Praia – Mindelo
• WAF 10: Tangier – Nouakchott – Nouadhibou – Nouakchott
• WAF 12: Tangier – Banjul

Maersk flagged that Tema and Apapa calls on WAF 3 handle West African exports only. Direct calls will also continue to Monrovia through WAF 5X and to Freetown through WAF 7X from Tangier until further notice.

Why are transshipment hubs consolidating?

The restructuring concentrates onward European cargo connections through four hubs: Abidjan, Lomé, Pointe-Noire and Tema. Connecting services and their destinations include:

• Abidjan: WAF 8 to San Pedro; WAF 5 to Onne and Takoradi
• Lomé: MW 2 to Cotonou
• Pointe-Noire: WAF 13 to Luanda and Walvis Bay; 23F to Malabo, Bata and Libreville; 23D to Matadi; 23E to Cabinda; FEW 6 to Kribi
• Tema: 23N to Douala

The new map tightens transshipment routing from Europe to a wider spread of West and Central African destinations, with Pointe-Noire absorbing the bulk of Gulf of Guinea feeder coverage.

What does the change mean for shippers?

Shippers moving European cargo into West Africa will see routing shuffled as calls move between Algeciras, Tangier and the new Port Said entry point. Forwarders supplying Central African markets through Matadi, Cabinda, Kribi or Douala now depend on a single hub call at Pointe-Noire or Tema, raising the stakes on schedule reliability.

Carriers operating in the same trade lane will need to track the new transit windows carefully. The revised structure rewards volume through the four consolidated hubs, but it also exposes any disruption at those hubs to a broader set of destinations.

The shift reflects Maersk's stated objective of improving connectivity and schedule reliability across the lane. With October 2026 as the go-live date, shippers have a clear window to renegotiate contracts, adjust inland logistics plans and pre-book slots at the new calling ports ahead of the switch.