CMA CGM and Maersk Line plan to launch a new weekly service in time for peak season, reflecting the recovery in demand on one of the world’s largest trade lanes. The joint service, which CMA CGM calls the FAL 5, will be the French carrier’s 12th service in its FAL (French Asia Line) network. The new vessel-sharing agreement is the latest in a series of VSAs that the two carriers have formed together on the Asia-Europe and trans-Pacific trade lanes since the global recession started cutting volume at the end of 2008. CMA CGM and Maersk Line will together deploy 10 vessels, which will operate by slow steaming on the route to conserve fuel and cut emissions. Each carrier will contribute five vessels to the service with capacities of 13,000 20-foot equivalent units apiece. The service will have the following port rotation: Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Port Kelang, Singapore and back to Ningbo. The first vessel deployed on the FAL5 service will be the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb, the French carrier’s 13,800-TEU flagship. |