By Karen Robes Meeks
CMA CGM, the world’s third largest shipping carrier, has recently launched a new weekly service along the western coast of the US, Central and South Americas.
The AZTECA service, which began May 24 in partnership with the German shipping company Hamburg Sud, will travel to US ports in Long Beach and Oakland; Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Acajutla, El Salvador; Corinto, Nicaragua; Buenaventura, Columbia, and Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica.
The service allows CMA CGM to link Central and South America’s agricultural food industry and empowers growers to ship perishables such as bananas and avocados to North America.
Existing connections from regional hubs allow Central America exporters to benefit from competitive transit times with Asia, according to CMA CGM, which sees the service as a way to strengthen its network on the Pacific Coast of the Americas.