Staff members more than double Pam Yerushalmy … 'allocation from Asia into SA has more than doubled since we started the agency.' ALAN PEAT IT HAS been a successful growth path for the CMA-CGM agency in SA since it was founded on July 1 last year, according to GM, Pam Yerushalmy. “In the 16-months since we established the agency, our staff numbers have more than doubled,” she said, “and our service has also been reinforced with the appointment of Agnes Carpentier as CMA-CGM line representative in SA.” With the completion of its takeover of the Delmas group lines, CMA-CGM is now the third largest container liner operator in the world, and has made a significant commitment to the SA shipping trade. The agency is currently emphasising its offering of two services from Asia – one a weekly sailing, the other every nine days. It has five of its own vessels in each of these services, and therefore has 10 owned vessels calling at Durban. “We have increased our volumes, and the allocation from Asia into SA has more than doubled since we started the agency,” said Yerushalmy. The weekly “SEAS” service links Asia, SA and the East Coast of South America (ECSA). And, although it is not the easiest trade to deal with, CMA-CGM has also kept its Asia-SA-West Africa service running. In the global scene, CMA-CGM now links SA with over 150 ports worldwide in its cross-trade activities.