On July 5th, French based CMA-CGM, a member of the Ocean Alliance, began the new INDIAMED service to Mumbai with the arrival of the 5,009 TEU capacity CMA CGM Virginia at APM Terminals Mumbai. The service, linking South Asia with ports in the Arabian Gulf and Mediterranean, was officially introduced on July 2nd, operating with vessels provided by CMA-CGM, its APL subsidiary, and Chinese-based Alliance partner COSCO.
The weekly INDIAMED service provides the fastest transit times between India and CMA CGM hub ports in the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf, and expands the transhipment network through the MEGEM (East Mediterranean to/from Middle East destinations) and MEDEX (West Mediterranean to/from Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent) services.
“We are excited to welcome this new service that expands India’s markets into key ports of Mediterranean. We stay committed to CMA CGM and all of India’s trade with our reliable, safe and productive terminal services” stated APM Terminals Mumbai COO Ravi Gaitonde.
The service rotation includes calls at Khor Fakkan, in the UAE; Karachi, Pakistan; Nhava Sheva (Mumbai), and Mundra, in India; Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Damietta, Egypt; Piraeus, Greece; Malta; Aliaga and Mersin, in Turkey and Port Said West, Egypt.
CMA CGM, currently the world’s third-largest shipping line by capacity, carried a total of 15.6 million TEUs in 2016, boosted by the acquisition of Singapore’s Neptune Orient Line (NOL), which includes the APL brand.
Nhava Sheva, the busiest container port in northwest India, handled a record 4.5 million TEUS in 2016, with APM Terminals Mumbai accounting for 1.8 million TEUs, or 40% of the port’s total container volume.
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