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CMA signs second Alibaba deal
[ February 14, 2017 // Chris ]CMA CGM has become the second shipping line to sign a deal with Asian online retailer Alibaba. A memorandum of understanding drawn up in Hangzhou will seek cooperation between the two leading companies in the digital area, with digital services for Alibaba’s users via the retailer’s OneTouch trade facilitation platform. They will offer a direct booking platform for customers for shipments from China to the Mediterranean and on the CMA CGM MEX1 and CMA CGM BEX services to ports including Barcelona, Valencia, Rijeka, Koper, Trieste and Venice.
The move follows a deal by Maersk Line for online booking for Alibaba’s Chinese customers in December.
Meanwhile, CMA CGM has upgraded its NC Levant service between the Eastern Mediterranean via Malta to Northern Europe including Felixstowe. Extended port coverage includes a new eastbound export call in Tanger Med and a new import call in Algeciras towards Northern Europe. Transit times offered will be among the best on the market, it says. It will be operated in partnership with Maersk’s Seago subsidiary and Hamburg Süd with one 6,500teu and four 5,900teu ships. Ports include Felixstowe, Tangier Med, Marsaxlokk, Alexandria, Beirut, Iskenderun, Mersin, Port Said, Salerno and Algeciras with return direct to Felixstowe.