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![A Med Cross Lines container at Tripoli Port (Photo: Tom Westcott, Libya . . .[restrict]Herald)](http://www.libyaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/med.cross_.lines_.jpg)
Tripoli, 24 September 2013:
Italian shipping company Med Cross Lines (MXL), established last year to serve routes between Europe and Libya, is expanding its capacity with a new partnership.
The agreement, with Finland-based ship owner Eckero Shipping, will boost services from Europe to North African markets.
“By entering as shareholders in MXL, Eckero will boost the fleet capacity of MXL according to market demand,” said MXL’s Chief Executive Officer Loris Trevisan. “Soon, other ships will be deployed into MXL’s service schedule, covering the major markets in the east and west Mediterranean.”
He added that activity would be focused on North African markets.
Eckero Shipping is part of the Finnish Eckero Group, which owns seven roll on-roll off (‘ro-ro’)/container cargo vessels and three passenger vessels. One of its cargo vessels, MV Express, is already time-chartered by MXL.
In April, six months after making its inaugural journey from Italy to Libya, MXL expanded its services with a second vessel. It also added port calls to Augusta in Sicily, which acts as a transhipment hub for cargo, to minimise long waits at Libyan ports. [/restrict]
