CMA CGM expands its presence on the West Coast of South America

CMA CGM is pleased to announce the launching, in June 2008, of a new weekly service dedicated to the West Coast of South America, linking Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Costa Rica : The ANDEX service

ANDEX will be 100% CMA CGM operated and will deploy three geared vessels with a capacity of 1 100 TEUs, along the following port rotation: Balboa (Panama), Buenaventura (Colombia), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Iquique (Chile), Callao (Peru), Buenaventura (Colombia), Puerto Caldera (Costa Rica).

This new regional service will widen the coverage of the CMA CGM services crossing the Panama Canal, and open up new markets, particularly in North Chile and Ecuador. To this end, the rotation of the SAX service (Asia - Panama - US East Coast) is being redesigned to include calls in Balboa both Eastbound and Westbound.

“ANDEX allows us to offer new destinations out of Asia and out of the United States, and to strengthen our regional coverage in response to growing demand from our customers on the West Coast of South America", explains Laurent Falguière, Vice-President Caribbean & Latin America Lines.

“The service also offers very competitive transit times - for example 23 days between Hong Kong and Buenaventura - thanks to very reliable connections in Balboa. It also provides new opportunities between the US East Coast and South America West Coast”.

The first call of ANDEX in Balboa will take place on June, 27, 2008.

This new initiative demonstrates the commitment of CMA CGM to further develop its activities in Latin America.

About CMA CGM - Led by its founder Jacques R. Saadé, CMA CGM is currently the world’s third largest container shipping group and the largest in France. Operating a fleet of 377 vessels, including 101 company-owned, the Group serves 400 ports around the world. In 2007, it carried more than seven million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). With a presence on all continents and in 150 countries through its network of 600 agencies, the Group employs 16,000 people worldwide, including 4,200 in France