CMA CGM’s European Caribbean Service is to begin calling at DP World London Gateway Port following enhancements to the rotation.
It means that this particular service will be calling in the UK for the first time on Friday, January 6.
Dedicated to reefer transport, the service will provide one of the shortest transit times on the market between Central America and North Europe.
It also enables the UK to connect with the whole of the Caribbean region through CMA CGM’s strategic hub in Kingston, Jamaica.
The new ECS rotation will be: Puerto Limon, Kingston, Rotterdam, DP World London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Caucedo, Kingston, Santo Tomas de Castilla, Puerto Cortes and Puerto Limon.
Offered in cooperation with Hapag–Lloyd, the service will be run by five 2300 TEU capacity, state-of-the-art CMA CGM vessels and one Hapag–Lloyd vessel.
CMA CGM already utilises DP World London Gateway on a number of services.
The line’s NEMO service, linking Oceania, the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, began calling at the port recently. Meanwhile, the EUROSAL service – connecting the west coast of South America and Northern Europe – will be upgraded to significantly larger, high reefer capacity vessels of almost 10,000teus.
Rob Waterman, CEO, CMA CGM UK, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to offer our customers an enhanced service offering between Central America and North Europe.
“These improvements will lead to shorter transit times and provide greater choice to shippers moving goods between Central America & the Caribbean to the UK.
“DP World London Gateway is exceptionally well equipped to handle reefer containers and we look forward to building on our good relationship with the Port to further enhance this service loop for our customers.”
James Leeson, Head of Port Commercial, DP World London Gateway, said: “This is a great win, not just for DP World London Gateway, but for the UK, too.
“The start of the improved ECS weekly service will broaden the Port’s trade route offering and also provide shippers with a highly competitive transit option between the UK and important Central America markets.
“Vessels calling here receive a superior temperature controlled container service. The Port has almost 1700 reefer plugs, a cassette and translifter system that enables containers to be moved around the terminal more efficiently and world-class inspection facilities that contribute to class leading release and dwell times.
“With our great team, state-of-the-art technology – which is making UK trade more reliable and more efficient – and excellent turnaround times, we’re extremely well placed to offer CMA CGM and its customers using these service rotations the very best service.”
