CMA CGM has announced an improved service directly connecting North Europe with Central America. The enhanced ECS service will provide one of the shortest transit times on the market, linking Rotterdam from Costa Rica in 14 days and adding London as a port of call in 15 days.

The offer is dedicated to reefer transport from Central America and the Caribbean to North Europe and allows to connect the United Kingdom with all of the Caribbean through CMA CGM’s strategic hub in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the most modern ports in the area.

Over the last summer, CMA CGM took over sole ownership of the Kingston hub, as the government of Jamaica divested the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) to Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL), a CMA CGM subsidiary. CMA CGM will develop and expand KCT as part of an agreement with the Port Authority of Jamaica. The agreement also commits to a second phase of development to expand capacity and further deepen the access channel and basin. The government granted KFTL a 30-year concession on the facility under the agreement, beginning July 1.

Offered in cooperation with Hapag–Lloyd, the service will be run by five CMA CGM vessels with 2300 TEUs and 550 reefer plugs and one Hapag–Lloyd vessel. The first vessel will enter the port of London Gateway on January 6, 2017. The new rotation will be: Puerto Limon, Kingston, Rotterdam, London, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Caucedo, Kingston, Santo Tomas de Castilla, Puerto Cortes, and Puerto Limon.

Elsewhere, in the region, CMA CGM upgraded its service from the French West Indies to Northern Europe. The carrier is in the process of replacing 2,200 TEU capacity vessels by 2,800 TEU vessels.

CMA CGM is part of the new OCEAN Alliance which will begin operartions in April 2017.