CARRIERS are diverting cargo bound for Greece and Turkey from Mediterranean routes to North European ports for transshipment to their final destinations, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.

Ships are being rerouted around southern Africa to avoid security risks in the Red Sea, resulting in a seven to 10-day extension for Asia-North Europe voyages and at least a 14-day delay for Asia-Mediterranean trips.

In order to minimize disruption to weekly schedules and improve vessel turnaround times, ocean carriers are opting to offload cargo in North Europe or at terminals in the eastern Mediterranean for onward shipment.

Alphaliner's latest weekly newsletter highlights that Cosco Group's subsidiary, OOCL, plans to redeploy the 13,092-TEU Cosco Development from the North Europe-US East Coast Trans-Atlantic Express service (TAE) to the Mediterranean.

The vessel will now serve as a feeder vessel connecting Zeebrugge in Belgium to the Greek port of Piraeus.

To fill the void in the TAE service, OOCL will deploy the 8,063-TEU OOCL Seoul.

The analyst noted that Piraeus typically serves as the initial port of discharge on the Ocean Alliance's Asia-Europe AEU3 service.

"Since this service is currently routed via the Cape of Good Hope, Zeebrugge has temporarily been added to the rotation of some sailings as first European port of discharge," said Alphaliner.