SEAS service offers host of Asian port options

ALAN PEAT
WITH A new eastbound call at Durban, CMA CGM’s weekly South-East Asia service (SEAS) is offering a wealth of Asian ports to SA traders, according to CMA CGM Shipping Agency GM, Pam Yerushalmy. With this being added to the already westbound sailings, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Chiwan and Port Kelang are now on the list for both SA exporters and importers, she added. On the other leg of the SEAS trade, it is also calling in Durban weekly for both westbound and eastbound voyages to-and-from South America. This in turns offers access to the South American east coast ports of Itaguai, Santos, Buenos Aires, Rio Grande, Itajai and Paranagua. “It’s now a full-scale trade between three continents,” Yerushalmy told FTW, “offering SA’s export and import industries a host of options on the same service.” The line has equal muscle in its West Africa (WAX) service, where the line has three calls a month in Durban – again offering traders both east and westbound options. At the Asian end of the trade, ports of call are Quingdao, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Chiwan, Port Kelang – and Port Louis in Mauritius on the Durban leg of the voyage. On what Yerushalmy terms “the bustling” West Coast of Africa, the line calls at Tema, Cottonou, Lagos and Abidjan. “We still also have a comprehensive cross-trade service out of both Durban and Cape Town,” she said, “offering a host of global destinations through various European hubs.” CMA CGM Shipping Agency now has a strengthened team in SA. “This,” said Yerushalmy, “is attributable to the increasing volumes from Asia into SA, and the re-instated eastbound service offering SA shippers outward trade to Asia. “CMA CGM head office in Marseilles is very focused on this country, and we are looking at exciting future developments. Watch this space.” All the line’s ships call at Pier No 1 in Durban, and CMA CGM Shipping Agency are also the official agents for Delmas in SA.