Maersk launching Med-Canada loop

The Danish ocean carrier in early July will commence a dedicated container service connecting ports in Italy, France and Spain with Montreal and Halifax.    Maersk Line is expanding its offering to and from Canada with a new dedicated transatlantic container service, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
   The new Med/Montreal Express, which will commence sailing July 2 from Salerno, Italy, will be operated with five Maersk vessels and a full port rotation of Salerno, La Spezia, Marseilles Fos-sur-Mer, Algeciras, Montreal, Halifax, Valencia and back to Salerno. Maersk did not specify the size of the vessels to be deployed.
   The Danish ocean carrier said the new loop is intended to improve product reliability and cater to growing demand from customers in both Canada and Europe.
   The launch coincides will the signing of two major free trade agreements for Canada: the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union and the still-pending Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which in addition to Canada includes Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
   Both deals are expected to reduce or eliminate tariff barriers among participating nations and significantly increase trade with Canada.
   “With one agreement in effect to fuel Canadian imports and exports in the Atlantic and another one in the works for the Pacific, this represents only favorable wind behind the expansion of our services in Canada and enable our customers to reach new markets in Europe and Asia,” Jack Mahoney, president of Maersk Line Canada, said of the new Med/Montreal Express.
   Added Karsten Kildahl, chief executive for Maersk Line’s European Region, “With the new service in place, we are confident that we can create opportunities for European and Canadian businesses which will offer them improved transportation solutions to cater for the demands of growing trade.”
   Maersk said it selected Montreal’s Cast terminal, operated by MGT, as the first port into Canada for the Med/Montreal Express primarily due to feedback from customers and the port’s proximity to consumers in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, home to two-thirds of the country’s total population.
   “The Port of Montreal serves these two regions via rail and trucking service for this large market, where 49 percent of discharged cargo go to Quebec and further 29 percent to Ontario,” said Sylvie Vachon, president and chief executive officer of the Montreal Port Authority. “The port, therefore, plays a key role in boosting Canadian trade and is a perfect match for importers and exporters looking for better transportation solutions with Canada.”
   In addition to the new loop, Maersk participates in two other direct region-to-region liner services with calls to Montreal, according to ocean carrier schedule database BlueWater Reporting.
   The carrier’s joint Canada Atlantic Express/SL1 with CMA CGM is operated with four vessels — three from Maersk and one from CMA CGM — with an average capacity of 2,946 TEUs and a full port rotation of Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Montreal, Halifax and Bremerhaven.
   Maersk and CMA CGM both also purchase slots on Hapag-Lloyd’s JMCSA service, which operates with five 3,627-TEU average ships on a port rotation of Sagunto, Cagliari, Leghorn, Genoa, Marseilles Fos, Algeciras, Tangier, Vigo, Montreal, Tangier and Sagunto.