CMA CGM drops Asia/Europe loop

CMA CGM drops Asia/Europe loop CMA CGM said it is eliminating one of its Asia/Europe services and adjusting other strings as “part of an effort to rationalize CMA CGM network in order to adjust to the current market demand.”
   The company said it would temporarily suspend the FAL4 service in which China Shipping participates.
   It said it will accelerate the upgrade on its FAL1 service. Four 9,700-TEU vessels recently delivered will be phased into the FAL1 loop. The first one will be CMA CGM Butterfly on Dec. 17 in Pusan.
   In turn, the 8,500-TEU vessels operated in FAL1 will be switched to FAL3 where they will displace 6,500-TEU vessels, which will then deployed in the EPIC service, trading between India and Europe.
   CMA CGM said it would maintain the same port coverage provided by FAL4 with its other services.
   “The highly successful calls at Nansha in Asia and the new inbound call in Zeebrugge will be transferred to the FAL3 service,” the company noted.
   From Zeebrugge, CMA CGM said it would maintain its new dedicated feeder services linking Gotenborg and Helsinborg, on the one hand, and Teesport and Immingham on the other hand.
   At the same time, the FAL3 service will resume direct calls at Hamburg, which were temporarily switched to Bremerhaven.
   Details on the three remaining strings, including the revised rotation of FAL3 are:
   ' FAL 1 uses 10 vessels (one 11,000-TEU and nine 8,500 TEU ships) on a rotation of Pusan, Kwangyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, Tangiers, Southampton, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Malta- Khorfakkan, Chiwan and Pusan.
   ' FAL2 uses eight 9,500-TEU vessels on a rotation of Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Hong Kong, Port Kelang, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Port Kelang, Ningbo.
   ' FAL3, nine vessels (six 6,500-TEU and three 8,500-TEU) on a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen, Chiwan, Nansha, Yantian, Malta-Le Havre, Zeebrugge, Dunkirk, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Southampton, Beirut, Jeddah, Port Kelang and Qingdao.