CMA CGM unveils it’s side of alliance story

   The liner carrier CMA CGM on Wednesday clarified its role in the Asia-Europe trade within the forthcoming alliance it has agreed with Mediterranean Shipping Co..
   Earlier this week, MSC outlined the services that would come under the auspices of the alliance on the Asia-North Europe trade.
   CMA CGM said the alliance will cover five services: its FAL 1, FAL 3, FAL 6, FAL 7, and FAL 9 loops.
   The FAL 1 service will have a rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Nansha, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Yantian, Vung Tau, Southampton, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta, Khor Fakkan, Port Kelang, Singapore, Yantian, and Ningbo. MSC will call this service its Condor loop. However, CMA CGM indicated it will provide the vessels on this service (11 ships of between 13,800 and 14,000 TEUs), while an MSC notice this week said the service would be operated with 11 MSC ships of the same size.
   According to American Shipper liner research affiliate ComPair Data, CMA CGM currently offers a service under the FAL 1 moniker with a rotation of Dalian, Xingang, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Port Kelang, Southampton, Hamburg Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Malta, Khor Fakkan, Yantian, and Dalian. The service is operated with 11 vessels (all from CMA CGM), with an average capacity of 11,217 TEUs. Evergreen Line, APL, China Shipping, MOL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and CMA CGM subsidiaries Delmas and ANL all take slots on the service.
   CMA CGM’s FAL 3 service corresponds to MSC’s Swan service, which will have a rotation of Xingang, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, Singapore, Port Kelang, Tangiers, Le Havre, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Beirut, Jeddah, Port Kelang, Singapore, and Xingang. It will be operated with 11 CMA CGM vessels with a capacity of 11,400 TEUs.
   CMA CGM also offers an existing service under the FAL 3 moniker, with a rotation of Ninbgo, Chiwan, Nansha, Yantian, Cai Mep, Port Kelang, Malta, Le Havre, Dunkirk, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Southampton, Beirut, Jeddah, Port Kelang, Chiwan, Xiamen, Qingdao, and Ningbo. The service is operated with 11 vessels (all from CMA CGM), with an average capacity of 10,535 TEUs. China Shipping, Delmas, and ANL take slots.
   CMA CGM’s FAL 6 and FAL 7 services correspond to the revised rotations MSC gave this week for its existing Silk and Lion services.
   Finally, the FAL 9 service, which MSC will call Jade, will have a rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Yantian, Singapore, Port Kelang, Gioia Tauro, Malta, Tangiers, Port Kelang, Singapore, Vung Tau, and Shanghai. CMA CGM said it will provide five of the nine 9,500-TEUs vessels on the service, with MSC providing the other four.
   The FAL 6, FAL 7, and FAL 9 service monikers are currently not in use by CMA CGM. The line said additional info regarding its FAL Asia-Europe network will be given “at a later stage.”
   The line said its existing agreement with Maersk Line on the Asia-Med trade will not be affected by the alliance with MSC. According to ComPair Data, the two lines partner on four Asia-Med services. CMA CGM takes slots on Maersk’s AE11 loop, Maersk takes slots on CMA CGM’s MEX loop, and the two jointly operate the AE3/BEX loop and AE12/BEX2 loops. CMA CGM also take slots on a Maersk express service between the Far East and Port Said.
   The French line didn’t specify how the MSC alliance would affect its current agreement with Maersk on the Asia-North Europe trade. The two lines currently jointly operate a big-ship loop on that lane, the FAL5/AE8 service. – Eric Johnson