The Port of Oakland has welcomed the first vessel on CMA CGM’s new Golden Gate Bridge service, the first direct service connecting Asia and Oakland in more than a decade.

Oakland has been pushing for this for some time. For many years now it has filled the role of the last US port of call on west coast services. The carriers calling Oakland all went to Los Angeles and Long Beach first, where they unloaded the bulk of their import cargo, before proceeding to Oakland. This made it tough to market Oakland as a gateway for import cargo heading via rail to destinations in the mid west including Chicago and Memphis. Oakland pushed hard to get carriers to try something different, and at one point was making the case to alliances for reversing one sailing a week and calling Oakland first, then Los Angeles or Long Beach.

CMA CGM’s new Golden Gate Bridge service takes a different approach, linking Oakland with the Pacific North West with a rotation of Shanghai, Yantian, Oakland, Seattle and then Kaohsiung. The first call at Oakland was made by the CMA CGM AFRICA FOUR, which is a geared vessel normally deployed in trade between Africa and Europe. The port said the regular service will use ships in the 5,000 to 6,000 TEU range offering transit times of Yantian-to-Oakland, 12 days; Shanghai-to-Oakland, 17 days; Oakland-to-Kaohsiung, 19 days. The service will call at Oakland International Container Terminals, which is operated by SSA Terminals.

“This opens up so many possibilities,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes. “Our customers can significantly improve the transit time for getting their products to consumers with a first-call and also use Oakland to reach the U.S. interior through our rail connections.” 

“The CMA CGM Group is pleased to introduce this Golden Gate Bridge service as we seek new ways to provide our customers with differentiated services, fast transit times and efficient access to their inland destinations,” said Ed Aldridge, President of CMA CGM America and APL North America. “We look forward to working closely with the Port of Oakland to help customers increase their speed to market and infuse more consistency into their supply chains.” 

• Elsewhere in the US, Florida International Terminal (FIT) in Port Everglades has welcomed CMA CGM’s Flamingo Express weekly service, serving Port Everglades, Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Haiti over Kingston, Jamaica as the hub. The service is expected to move between 8,000 and 10,000 containers per year through FIT.