CMA CGM kicks off new services

At official functions in Durban and Johannesburg, five executives from the sister lines CMA CGM and Delmas, launched the group’s third service linking Asia and Africa. Today (June 11), the first day of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in SA, the two lines have added a new weekly call in Durban on both the eastbound and westbound legs of the WAX service linking Asia to West Africa. “This, “ said Denis Laue, Delmas vice-president, “is our response to the expanding trade from China to West and South Africa, and to the growing demand from SA exporters to Asia. “The WAX service, which deploys 11 vessels of 2 600-TEU capacity, will also offer worldwide connections to the group’s services from Durban, in addition to those already available from Port Kelang or Colombo.” The new port rotation will be: Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuqing, Chiwan, Port Kelang, Durban, Walvis Bay, Tema, Apapa, Lome, Abidjan, Durban, Colombo, Port Kelang, Qingdao. “This new call reflects the determination of CMA CGM to complement the meshing of its three dedicated services between Asia and Africa and creates synergy in this fast-growing market,” Stéphane Courquin, CMA CGM’s deputy vicepresident, told FTW. It joins the weekly SAES service, which is run in a partnership with China Shipping, and links South America, Durban and the Far East on the eastbound leg. It also follows the recent upgrading of the group’s weekly AFEX service, which directly connects north and central China to Cameroon, Benin and Nigeria and calls at the port of Maputo in Mozambique on the way back to Asia . “Thanks to these developments,” said Rhett van Zyl, the MD of CMA CGM in South Africa, “we can now offer clients three direct weekly services between Asia and Africa, enhanced port coverage with 11 ports in Asia and 13 ports in West and South Africa, and competitive transit times.”