CMA CGM, Maersk to partner in Med-USEC

CMA CGM, Maersk to partner in Med-USEC CMA CGM Group said it and Maersk Line will on March 12 launch an optimized version of its Amerigo Express service linking the Mediterranean and the U.S. East Coast.
      The new service will replace the current Amerigo Express service partnering between CMA CGM and Evergreen.
      Maersk said the new service will also replace its current WestMed service.
      “By combining two strings, approximately 2,900 TEUs of weekly capacity will be removed from the trade, bringing needed stability to the market,” Maersk said.
      CMA CGM said the new service will provide enlarged port coverage in West Mediterranean with the introduction of two new calls in Algeciras and Gioia Tauro — in addition to the existing calls in Malta, Livorno, Genoa and Fos — offering new feeder connections with Italy, Spain and Portugal.
      Maersk said the new service will provide it with new direct port calls in Fos-Sur-Mer (France), Malta and Miami, “creating access to new markets for our customers.” In the past, Maersk said it had served Southern France via its hub in Algeciras by a feeder. Maersk said transit time from Fos-Sur-Mer to Newark, N.J., has been dramatically reduced from 22 days to 10 days.
      The New Amerigo Express will operate with five vessels with capacities of 3,500 TEUs, including the CMA CGM Amber, a latest generation containership recently delivered by Hanjin shipyard. Maersk will operate four ships in the string; CMA CGM one.
      Port rotation will be Algeciras, Malta, Gioia Tauro, Livorno, Genoa, Fos, Algeciras, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Miami and return to Algeciras.
      “This new, optimized version of the Amerigo Express service offers strengthened port coverage on the Mediterranean to U.S. trade, using more efficient tonnage. It provides CMA CGM with operating synergies particularly adapted to the current economic context,” said Jean Philippe Thenoz, CMA CGM group vice president of North America lines.
      “The new WestMed Service is really the best of both worlds. We are expanding coverage and improving reliability and transit times to better serve our customers,” said Soren Castbak, senior director of Atlantic product management for Maersk Line. “And at the same time we deal proactively with the economic climate, taking out capacity in line with the softening demand from customers in the trade.” ' Chris Dupin