CCNI sells carrier operations to Hamburg Sud; CMA CGM acquires 2 new ships

0
542

Hamburg SudGerman ocean liner Hamburg Sud is set to take over South American carrier Compania Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica (CCNI) next month.

Hamburg Sud said it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the container liner activities of the Chilean shipping company, including the related general agency functions of Agunsa Agencias Universales, with headquarters in Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile.

The takeover of the CCNI and Agunsa business is, subject to approval by antitrust authorities, scheduled to take effect at the end of March 2015.

Hamburg Sud will operate the CCNI container liner business under the CCNI brand name in the main trades between the West Coast of South America, Asia, Europe and North America.

“Merging the experienced workforces of CCNI and Hamburg Sud will help to create an even stronger organization that will provide a first class service to the customers of both companies,” said Hamburg Sud in a written release.

On the other hand, CCNI will discontinue its container liner services and will only be using the CCNI name for the car carrier activities which it will retain. Agunsa will continue representing other shipping lines as agent and will also further develop its port and logistics services business in South America.

2 more box ships for CMA CGM

Meanwhile, CMA CGM received the delivery of its fifth and sixth vessels in the 9,400- to 10,900- TEU series on February 5, and entered them into the fleet on February 13 and February 14.

The CMA CGM Loire and CMA CGM Ural are part of the series of 28 ships of the same class that will be delivered from now through the third quarter of 2016. The Danube, Elbe, Litani, and Tigris are the first of this series that is named after famous rivers of the world and that started to be delivered on June 30, 2014.

Both measuring 300 meters long and 48 meters wide, the Loire has a nominal capacity of 9,365 TEUs and the Ural has a 10,622-TEU capacity. They are also equipped with the latest environmental technologies.

Sailing under the Malta flag and chartered vessels, the Loire and Ural were built separately by two Chinese shipyards.

“With a capacity of 1458 reefer plugs 40’, which is the largest so far on such a ship, the vessels of this series embody the group’s ambition to be a leader in this growing market,” said the company.

Since February 13, the Loire has been positioned on the Bosphorus Express (BEX), where the Danube, Elbe, Litani, and Tigris have already been placed. She will call Dalian, Tianjin, Kwangyang, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Izmit, Istambul Ambarli, Constanza, Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Port Said, Port Klang, Singapore, and Dalian.

On February 14, the Ural joined the Mediterranean Club Express (MEX) with a port rotation of Shanghai, Ningbao, Yantian, Chiwan, Port Klang, Malta, Valencia, Barcelona, Fos sur Mer, Malta, Salalah, Port Klang, Xiamen, and Shanghai.