CMA CGM chooses Port of Gothenburg

The world's third largest container shipping company - CMA CGM - is the latest company to choose the Port of Gothenburg. In November a new route will be opened, linking the Port of Gothenburg with the Far East.

The French-owned shipping company CMA CGM, with its 377 freight vessels, is the largest shipping company in France and the third largest in the world. In November a completely new route will be opened and will become the company's first regular route to Scandinavia using its own vessels.

"We are extremely pleased to have CMA CGM as a customer at the Port of Gothenburg. We can now offer Swedish companies an even better range of shipping routes to key import and export markets," says Magnus Kårestedt, Port of Gothenburg chief executive.

The new route will be served by feeder vessels.The route runs from Zeebrügge in Belgium to the Port of Gothenburg and the Port of Helsingborg before heading back to Zeebrügge, where the goods are reloaded onto the company's ocean-going ships. These then head for destinations such as the Far East, including the ports of Yantian, Nansha, Shanghai and Xiamen in China.

CMA CGM will make use of the rail shuttles that link the Port of Gothenburg to 24 inland terminals throughout Sweden. In doing so they can receive import and export goods from throughout the country, concentrating volumes on Gothenburg and Helsingborg.

"The rail shuttles make it possible for the whole of Swedish industry to maintain a direct link with the Port of Gothenburg. Interest is increasing constantly as the combination of sea and rail is the most effective and environmentally wise mode of transporting freight," says Port of Gothenburg chief executive Magnus Kårestedt.

For further information, please contact Cecilia Carlsson, Media Relations Officer Port of Gothenburg, tel. +46 31-731 22 45.

Factfile: Port of Gothenburg
The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the Nordic region and the only port in Sweden with the capacity to receive the largest transocean freight vessels with a direct link to other continents. A large proportion of Sweden's imports and exports pass through the Port of Gothenburg, including 65 per cent of Sweden's container traffic.