CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd Europe/Oceania tie-up official

CMA CGM has confirmed it is merging its Europe/Oceania via Suez Canal NEMO service with the ANS loop of Hapag-Lloyd.

The French carrier started NEMO -- soon to become New NEMO -- in February 2007 and soon after ended a previous agreement with Hapag-Lloyd on the ANS.

It is unclear what will happen with current NEMO partner Deutsche Afrika Linien.

The merged ANS/New NEMO string will use 12 ships -- six each from CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd -- with a rotation of Tilbury, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, La Spezia, Damietta, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Singapore, Port Kelang, Chennai, Colombo, Damietta, Malta, La Spezia and back to Tilbury.

Port calls on the existing NEMO loop that are not staying include Antwerp and Fos in Europe-Mediterranean, Pointe des Galets and Port Louis in the Indian Ocean, and Jakarta in Southeast Asia. New ports for CMA CGM are Rotterdam and Singapore.

This new design of the NEMO service allows us to rationalize our offer between Europe and Australia, said Jean-Franis Guittet, CMA CGM's senior vice president, Africa Oceania and Indian Ocean lines. It guarantees CMA CGM customers highly competitive transit times while strengthening our regional coverage on this expanding market, with calls in the five major Australian ports of Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd will continue to serve New Zealand directly to and from Europe on the Panama Direct (PAD) service. 

Source: American Shipper