New joint service on South America – Middle East trade lane

SHIPPING lin es CMA CGM and CSAV will merge their existing Vasco and Marco Polo services, launching a new schedule from November 6. The revised port rotation will cover Santos – Paranagua – Itajai - Rio Grande – K hor Fakkan – Jebel Ali – Damman – Bandar Abbas – Nhava Sheva – Durban – Santos, with Itajai replacing the current Sao Francisco do Sul no later than December 2007. Salalah and Port Louis will be dropped from the present Vasco schedule. “This new co-operation will enable us to provide a weekly sailing with enhanced schedule integrity,” said Pamela Yerushalmy, general manager commercial for CMA CGM Shipping Agencies South Africa. CMA CGM will provide five vessels while CSAV will provide three.