CMA CGM launches joint USWC-Central America loop with Hamburg Süd

Dubbed “Azteca,” the weekly container service will transport agri-food products from key ports in Central and South America to Oakland and Los Angeles, Calif., the French ocean carrier said Tuesday.    French ocean liner CMA CGM will launch a new container service called “Azteca” connecting the U.S. West Coast with Central and South America later this month, the company said Tuesday.
   The weekly loop will be operated in conjunction with north-south specialist Hamburg Süd of Germany, which was sold to industry leader Maersk Line for 3.7 billion euros (U.S. $4 billion) in late 2016, although the deal has yet to be completed officially.
   The Azteca service will have a port rotation of Oakland, Los Angeles, Lazaro Cardenas, Puerto Quetzal, Acajutla, Corinto, Buenaventura, Puerto Caldera, Puerto Quetzal, Lazaro Cardenas, Los Angeles and Oakland.
   The service will enable the agri-food industry in Central and South America to export to North American market, carrying goods such as fruit, shrimp and wine, said CMA CGM.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, there are currently 14 other services that call Central and South America from the West Coast of North America operated by Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd, Dole, NYK Line, MSC, Network Shipping, and Maersk’s intra-Americas subsidiary SeaLand.