Maersk is making changes to its Europe-West Africa service network starting in October 2026. The carrier says the goal is to improve connectivity and schedule reliability on routes linking Europe with West and Central Africa. The update touches both the main direct services and the connecting services used to reach smaller ports in the region.

New Port Calls and Rotations

The revised network adds coverage through Port Said, Lomé and Pointe-Noire, ports that will now feature more directly in Maersk's West Africa rotations. Several services have been reworked, including WAF 2, WAF 3, WAF 6, WAF 7, WAF 9B/C, WAF 10 and WAF 12. These cover a mix of North African, West African and Atlantic island ports, from Tangier and Algeciras through to Dakar, Conakry, Banjul and the Cape Verde ports of Praia and Mindelo. WAF 3 now runs from Port Said through Algeciras, Tangier, Lomé, Abidjan, Tema and Apapa, though the Tema and Apapa calls on that service will only handle export cargo moving out of West Africa, not imports from Europe.

Temporary Direct Calls for Monrovia and Freetown

Until further notice, Maersk will serve Monrovia through the WAF 5X service and Freetown through WAF 7X, with both running directly from Tangier. This is a separate arrangement from the main rotations listed above and suggests these two ports are being handled outside the restructured network for now, at least in the near term.

Reorganised Transshipment Connections

A significant part of this update involves how European cargo reaches secondary African ports through transshipment hubs. Maersk has consolidated these connections through four main hubs: Abidjan, Lomé, Pointe-Noire and Tema. From Abidjan, the WAF 8 service connects to San Pedro, while WAF 5 reaches Onne and Takoradi. Lomé connects via MW 2 to Cotonou. Pointe-Noire now serves as a hub for multiple onward routes, including WAF 13 to Luanda and Walvis Bay, and separate services reaching Malabo, Bata, Libreville, Matadi, Cabinda and Kribi. Tema connects to Douala via service 23N.

This concentration of onward connections through fewer hubs marks a shift in how cargo bound for destinations like Luanda, Douala or Matadi will be routed after leaving Europe.

What This Means for Shippers and Cargo Owners

For companies shipping to or from West and Central Africa, these changes mean it's worth checking current routing before booking, since the path cargo takes to reach secondary ports may differ from before. Cargo headed to destinations such as Luanda, Walvis Bay, Douala, Matadi, Cabinda or Kribi will now typically move through Pointe-Noire or Tema as a transshipment point rather than whatever hub was used previously. Shippers using Tema or Apapa as part of WAF 3 should also note that those calls are now limited to export cargo from West Africa, which may affect import bookings through that service.

Because the network changes involve both rotation adjustments and a restructuring of connecting services, transit times for some routes could shift, particularly for cargo passing through the newly designated hubs. Shippers and forwarders with regular West Africa volumes should confirm specific routing and transit expectations with Maersk directly, and allow extra time when booking during the transition period in October 2026, since schedule adjustments of this scale can take a few sailings to settle into a predictable pattern. Keeping an eye on tracking updates for shipments routed through Abidjan, Lomé, Pointe-Noire and Tema will help flag any early disruptions tied to the new structure.

Sources: container-news.com