CMA CGM AND NORASIA FINALIZE JOINT PACIFIC, ASIA/EUROPE SERVICES

CMA CGM AND NORASIA FINALIZE JOINT PACIFIC, ASIA/EUROPE SERVICES    French carrier CMA CGM and Fribourg-based Norasia have released details of their previously-announced alliance in the Pacific trade.
   As part of their extensive cooperation, CMA CGM and Norasia will revamp three existing Asia/Europe and transpacific weekly services by the end of the month.
   Both Norasia and CMA CGM entered the Pacific trade last year, with separate services.
   China Shipping Group, the fast-growing Chinese carrier, will have space on two of the three CMA CGM/Norasia joint services between Asia and Europe.
   The joint CMA CGM/Norasia “MEX” service between Asia and the Mediterranean will be extended to the U.S. West Coast, becoming known as “MEX/TPX.” The extended service will employ 12 vessels averaging 3,500 TEUs.
   The port rotation of the “MEX/TPX” is Los Angeles, Oakland, Busan, Keelung, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Jakarta, Singapore, Port Kelang, Malta, Barcelona, Fos, Genoa, Naples, Malta, Damietta, Port Kelang, Singapore, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Los Angeles and Oakland.
   China Shipping Group will continue to take space on the Asia/Europe leg of the service.
   As part of the big service reshuffle, CMA CGM will now take space on Norasia’s transpacific “PSW” service, renamed “China California Shuttle.” The revised service will no longer call at ports of Keelung and Yantian, but it will serve the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Xiamen, with four ships of 1,400-TEU capacity. The rotation of the service is Los Angeles, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
   The former U.S./Asia/Europe “North China Japan” service of CMA CGM will become a dedicated China/Europe service named “NCX”. The new service will deploy nine vessels with unit capacities of between 1,600 and 2,500 TEUs.
   Norasia, China Shipping Group and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, which previously chartered space on the Asia/Europe leg of the “NCJ” service, will have space on the new “NCX” Asia/Europe loop. The rotation of the “NCX” service is Qingdao, Dalian, Inchon, Busan, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Port Kelang, Damietta, Malta, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta, Port Kelang, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Dalian, Inchon, Busan and Xiamen.
   Norasia’s Pacific Northwest transpacific service continues unchanged and with no partners.
   The “North China Japan,” “MED/TPX” and “China California Shuttle” services of CMA CGM and Norasia will employ 25 vessels altogether and will not increase the overall capacity of their partners. Their rotations show a particular focus on Chinese ports.
   CMA CGM and Norasia will not take space on China Shipping Group’s existing “China America” service between Asia and the U.S. West Coast.
   In a separate agreement, CMA CGM, China Shipping Group and P&O Nedlloyd have launched a weekly Asia/U.S. East Coast service, the details of which were announced recently.
   Both Norasia and CMA CGM will now offer three weekly services between Asia and the U.S. Norasia previously had two and CMA CGM one.
   Full details of transit times and days of departure and arrival for all the new services are available from the free global shipping database ComPairSchedules, at www.compairschedules.com.