Shipping group CMA CGM will launch on May 23, 2017 a second Midas service connecting India, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and Southern and Western Africa.
Betting on the economic dynamism of both India and the countries of Africa, CMA CGM Group said it intends to benefit from the economic growth of the two regions. After announcing a strategic investment in the port of Mundra in India last month, CMA CGM now offers its customers a new service to Africa to accompany its Midas service:
Midas 1 will service West Africa Range South and Center from India and the Middle East. Two calls in South Africa have been inserted on the way back in order to offer our Reefer customers among the fastest transit times to the Middle East. This service will include 10 vessels of 4,250 TEUs with over 600 plugs for reefers on a 70-day rotation.
Midas 2 will service the Indian Ocean and South Africa from India and the Middle East in a shortened 42-day rotation. Six ships of 2,500 TEUs will be deployed on this service. A Northbound and a Southbound calls are planned at Pointe des Galets in La Réunion where all ships will be operated by SAMR, a subsidiary of the CMA CGM Group.
The Loop 1 of the Midas service will call in the CT4 terminal of the port of Mundra, which is now operated by CMA CGM and its Indian partner.
“The duplication of the Midas service allows us to improve both our service offering with competitive transit times and a greater capacity as well as the access to new markets between South Africa and the Indian Ocean," said Bertrand Simion, CMA CGM's Director of Africa Lines Africa.
These two new services will be operated with two partners, through a VSA (Vessel Sharing Agreement) that will allow the deploying of 16 ships on 21 ports of call on both services.