The French carrier says the freshly minted loop, Citrus Express, will focus on the transportation of citrus exports from Turkey and Egypt to Russia.
At the start of November three containerships of 1,100 teu will be deployed and are due to call at Port Said, Mersin, Istanbul, Novorossiysk and Damiette.
In mid-February, when refrigerated Turkish exports typically begin to slow, it says Mersin will be dropped from the rotation and an Egyptian port will be added.
"This new service will enable CMA CGM to consolidate its position as a reefer operator in this fast growing market,” Stephane Courquin, vice president of CMA CGM Asia Mediterranean Lines, told customers in a statement Friday.
CMA CGM made TradeWinds headlines earlier in the day when it reshuffled its Asia to Mediterranean rotations and pulled the plug on its Turkey Shuttle Service,which was handled by eight 6,500-teu containerships under a partnership with Maersk.
In other liner news, shipbrokers say Mediterranean Shipping Company has fixed the 4,038-teu Mare Caribicum (built 2000) for a year at $6,000 per day. The same sources on Friday said Reider Shipping has sold the 549-teu feedermax Baltic Trader (built 1995) for $2m to Indonesian buyers.
