CMA CGM Asia/Caribbean takes long way home

CMA CGM Asia/Caribbean takes long way home French liner carrier CMA CGM has rerouted the return leg of its Asia/Mexico/Caribbean PEX2 service via the Cape of Good Hope instead of doubling back through the Panama Canal, an official with the carrier told American Shipper Friday.
      The move will allow CMA CGM to save considerable sums on each sailing by avoiding paying tolls through the Panama Canal twice. The service has connected ports in China, Taiwan and Korea with Manzanillo and four Caribbean ports, but requires ships to pass back through the canal on the way back to China.
      With the Panama Canal Authority raising canal tolls 14 percent in May, the carrier has calculated that it will save $175,000 to $200,000 per sailing by taking the longer route home, said Laurent Falgui're, vice president of Caribbean and Latin America lines for CMA CGM. He estimated the cost to transit the canal for the vessels used in the PEX2 service would be $346,000 in May.
      There are other reasons for the change, he added. The carrier will also likely add a stop in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on the return leg to Asia. That will save transshipment costs as CMA CGM currently has to reposition empties from Port of Spain to ports served by direct services back to Asia.
      Another potential port to be served by the service could be Port Klang in Malaysia, something that would link the Caribbean ports directly to Southeast Asia as opposed to just Chinese and Korean ports.
      Yet another advantage of the rerouting is that CMA CGM would be able to deploy an additional ship on the service, a ship that otherwise would likely be idled in the current low demand environment.
      The PEX2 uses nine ships of 3,500-TEU capacity, with CMA CGM providing eight and China Shipping the other vessel. With the new routing, vessel size will increase to 4,000 TEUs in March and CMA CGM will add another vessel to the string.
      “That’s the beauty,” Falgui're said. “You not only save costs, you improve vessel utilization and add ports at the same time.”
      He added that the new routing of PEX2 will allow more schedule flexibility in case of congestion through the canal or at any of the Caribbean ports.
      Falgui're stressed that the decision was not made to put pressure on the Panama Canal to lower tolls. A couple of carriers, including Maersk Line, have begun routing Far East/Europe services around the Cape of Good Hope to get around paying Suez Canal transit tolls.
      “This is a very pragmatic approach,” Falgui're said. “The purpose is not to put pressure. It’s simply to look at our bottom line.”
      The rerouting has actually already begun, as a CMA CGM vessel currently in the Venezuelan port of Puerto Cabello will return to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope. The service won’t officially change for a few weeks, as the larger vessels are rotated in.
      “Structurally, everything will be in place by the beginning of April,” Falgui're said.
      The current port rotation of the service is Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Kaohsiung, Busan, Ensenada, Manazanillo (Mexico), Punta Manzanillo (Panama), Kingston, Caucedo, Puerto Cabello, Punta Manzanillo and Qingdao.
      The new routing will see vessels sail across the Atlantic after calling at Puerto Cabello rather than doubling back through the canal. ' Eric Johnson