CMA CGM, CSCL deploy bigger ships in joint Asia- Mideast service

CMA CGM has announced major changes in its CIMEX service linking Asia to the Middle East Gulf in partnership with China Shipping Container Line, which will soon replace the two companies' separate CMA CGM CIMEX and the CSCL AMA services

The new replacement CIMEX service starts its first westbound rotation from Tianjin July 8 with the sailing of the CMA CGM Don Carlos.

The service fleet will be composed of six vessels in the 8,500-TEU range, replacing the 3,000- and 5,700- TEU ships currently deployed. This will be achieved without adding capacity to the market.

There will be an enlarged port coverage with fast transit times and the introduction of five new ports calls (Tianjin, Dalian, Shenzhen [Shekou], Guangzhou [Nansha] and Damman) offering new connections to north China and the Middle East Gulf.

The new CIMEX rotation will be as follows: Tianjin, Dalian, Pusan, Shanghai (Yangshan), Shanghai (Waigaoqiao), Ningbo, Shenzhen (Shekou), Port Kelang, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Damman, Bandar Abbas, Port Kelang, Guangzhou (Nansha) and return to Tianjin.

"The trade from Asia to the Middle East has enjoyed healthy growth that is likely to continue," said a CMA CGM statement.

60pc of 3PLs at Atlanta convention say business is better

A SURVEY by Transite Technology at the eyefortransport.com 3PL Summit in Atlanta last week showed that 60 per cent of responding delegates said their business was getting better, according to Newark's Journal of Commerce.

Most shippers, carriers and vendors in the third-party logistics (3PL) field surveyed at the convention said they believed that the overall health of their businesses would be "better or much better" from now until the end of 2009.

The survey also found that 32 per cent believed US economic health is "better" than it was at the end of last year, while 29 per cent said it was the "same".

Forty-two per cent said their overall business was performing "better or much better" than at the end of last year with 45 per cent saying their current performance was the "same."

Seventy per cent said attracting new customers had been their top challenge over the last 12 months, followed by retaining existing customers and managing overall profitability.

(Source: New and Data Online)