CMA CGM Group Selects Port Of New Orleans For Direct Service To Asia

NEW ORLEANS — CMA CGM today announced a new direct-to-Asia container service from the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal at the Port of New Orleans. The French company’s inaugural vessel is scheduled to arrive Jan. 31 for service by terminal operator Ports America.

CMA CGM Group is the world’s third-largest container carrier and is based in Marseille, France, with U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The direct weekly service to Asia will shave significant transit time off alternate routes, allowing container shipments to and from China, South Korea and Singapore to reach their destinations sooner.

“Louisiana is an international gateway for goods bound to and from America’s industrial heartland, and having this new direct service for shippers to vital Asian markets will create greater value for our economy,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “As we see billions of dollars of new industrial investments being made in Louisiana, strategic shipping services by CMA CGM and others will enhance existing import-export operations while making our state even more desirable for foreign direct investment projects.”

CMA CGM has provided shipping services at the Port of New Orleans since 2009 and currently operates two weekly services: Med-Americas Service to the Caribbean and to South and Central American ports from New Orleans; and the Victory Bridge Service to ports in northern Europe.

“CMA CGM is proud to be expanding our presence in New Orleans, further showing our commitment to the Gulf Region, and Louisiana specifically,” said President Marc Bourdon of CMA CGM America LLC. “We look forward to continued growth in the region, and are pleased to be contributing to the evolution and development of this vital hub. In the U.S., the group now offers a global coverage with 23 services in and out of North America to over 150 countries around the world.”

In New Orleans, shippers now will have greater options for making timely connections to Asia, a development that will serve as a catalyst for attracting new business to the port and the state.

“CMA CGM’s announcement is great news for the Port of New Orleans and Louisiana’s international trade community in that it brings Asia one giant step closer to our doorstep,” Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange said. “Our team has worked diligently to attract this service.”

Incoming Port of New Orleans President and CEO Brandy Christian said the service will position the port for future success.

“CMA CGM’s new direct Asia container service will enhance the competitiveness of the Port of New Orleans and Louisiana by providing faster transit times and expanding the port’s reach for shippers,” Christian said. “Initiating this service from New Orleans accomplishes a strategic goal for the port and will serve as a catalyst to attract new business to the region. We look forward to working with CMA CGM to ensure the service’s success.”

The new CMA CGM service will provide transit times of as little as 26 days from Asia. The service also will enhance offerings at the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal at the Port of New Orleans, with additional service to such key markets as Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago; Detroit; Indianapolis and Toronto – all served daily by CN Railroad.

The direct service between New Orleans and Asia will add capacity and reliability for exporters, port officials said, and the move is strategically timed to serve a surge in resin exports anticipated in 2017.

About CMA CGM
Founded and led by Jacques R. Saadé, CMA CGM is a leading worldwide shipping group. Its 536 vessels call on more than 420 ports in the world on five continents. In 2015, they carried 18 million TEUs, or twenty-foot-equivalent units. CMA CGM has grown continuously and has been constantly innovating to offer its clients new sea, land and logistics solutions. With a presence in more than 160 countries, through its network of 600 agencies, the group employs 29,000 people worldwide, including 2,400 in its headquarters in Marseille. For more information, visit CMA-CGM.com.

About the Port of New Orleans
The Port of New Orleans is a deep-draft, multipurpose port at the center of the world’s busiest port system – Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Connected to major inland markets and Canada via 14,500 miles of waterways, six Class I railroads and the interstate highway system, the port is the ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products, manufactured goods and cruises. An extensive network of ocean carrier services, along with added-value services that include transloading of bulk into containers, make the Port of New Orleans the superior logistics solution for many types of cargo. To stay ahead of market demand, the port has invested more than $100 million in capital improvement projects since 2012 and has a master plan to expand the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal with greater volume and enhanced services. For more information, visit portno.com.