CMA CGM revamps Amerigo Express from Med-US east coast

FRENCH shipping group CMA CGM has unveiled plans to launch an upgraded version of its Amerigo Express service that links the Mediterranean and the US East Coast starting March 12.

The service will be operated in partnership with Maersk Line and will replace the current Amerigo Express service that CMA CGM operates in partnership with Evergreen.

The revised service will call at two additional ports in the West Mediterranean, namely Algeciras and Gioia Tauro, continue making port of calls in Malta, Livorno, Genoa and Fos, and offer new feeder connections with Italy, Spain and Portugal, a statement from CMA CGM said.

The New Amerigo Express will be operated with five 3,500-TEU ships, including the CMA CGM Amber that was recently delivered by South Korea's Hanjin shipyard.

The port rotation for the optimised service will be: Algeciras, Malta, Gioia Tauro, Livorno, Genoa, Fos, Algeciras, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Miami, returning to Algeciras.

This new, optimised version of the Amerigo Express service offers strengthened port coverage on Mediterranean to US 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 North America Lines.

The new service is scheduled to depart from Malta on March 12.

Source: American Shipper