CMA CGM is introducing Dunkirk into the rotation of its FAL3 service (French Asia Line), beginning in August with the arrival of CMA CGM CARMEN.
FAL3 is currently maintained by a fleet of nine ships with capacities of between 6500 and 8500 TEU. The service covers the Chinese ports of Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen, Chiwan and Yantian and then, after a call in Le Havre, Dunkirk will be the next port of call in the North European schedule. Eastbound, FAL3 calls Beirut, Jeddah and Port Kelang before heading back to China.
It is the first time that Dunkirk will have a direct link with China, and transit time will be just over 20 days. Terminal Link, the handling affiliate of CMA CGM, has a 30% stake in Dunkirk’s NFTIou container terminal, which is operated for the port by APM Terminals, the majority stakeholder in the facility (61%).
CMA CGM is already a major customer of NFTIou, with routes to and from the French West Indies, the Pacific and Morocco, as well as the Delmas con-ro services to West Africa. The addition of FAL3, however, could help restate NFTIou’s east-west credentials. The terminal has been struggling since Maersk pulled its AE10 (Europe-Asia) and WAF6 (West Africa) services, as part of a general shake-up of its global network (WorldCargo News, January 2008, p11).
According to figures just released by Dunkirk port authority (PAD), NFTIou handled 114,000 TEU in the first half of this year, 10% more than the same period last year. PAD has noted that Maersk has made several “exceptional calls” totalling 22,000 TEU of moves since the start of the year and these largely compensated for the cancellation of the regular AE10 and WAF6 services.
PAD also notes that the port’s ro-ro freight traffic rose by 7% to 6.4 Mt, or 292,000 trucks or trailers in British o/d flows.
