News / CMA CGM expands India footprint with new feeders and role in IMEC

Photo: CMA CGM

CMA CGM is “re-strategising” its growth plans for India amid the wide reshuffle of ocean alliance network dynamics.

In a push for regional trades in standalone capacity, the French liner has launched additional strings connecting India with the Middle East and Red Sea.

The new loops, BIGEX 3 and 4, with weekly sailings complement BIGEX 1 and 2 already in operation.

BIGEX 3 has direct calls at Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, and Jeddah, with shipments for Port Sudan and Aqaba served via Jeddah, while BIGEX 4 connects the two Indian ports with Dammam and Umm Qasar, with export loadings restricted to Dammam.

The services are due to begin from Nhava Sheva on 23 and 25 February, respectively and CMA CGM claims they will offer “industry-leading transit times” and optimal reefer plug capacity for customers’growing cargo interests.

BIGEX services were introduced in March 2023 to extend the carrier’s coverage to Bangladesh.  But calls to Chittagong port couldn’t be sustained due to ‘operational challenges’ at the feeder port, mainly draught limitations that have historically kept mainline carriers at a distance.

On a broader note, CMA CGM’s service expansion into India-Red Sea trades comes as some niche feeder or regional operators have jumped into the market to profit from the chaotic Red Sea situation driving vessel diversions around the Cape of Good Hope.

While some of the newer opportunistic services might have ad-hoc schedules, they make up significant additional capacity to cause market share shocks for established mainline networks.

The Gemini Cooperation launch saw Hapag-Lloyd decouple itself from decades-long VSAs with CMA CGM, especially on trades from India to the US and Europe. CMA CGM continues to have a tonnage partnership with Cosco/OOCL on India-Europe, but now faces vessel gaps on its Indamex service between West India and the US east coast.

As a result, Indamex has had to contend with sporadic blank sailings, with weeks 8 and 10 the next known “no-vessel cases” for India loadings.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM Group is also exploring potential opportunities to cement its Indian footprint, with New Delhi’s alternative trade corridor development plans for Europe via the Middle East, known as IMEC, unveiled two years ago, as one bet.

“By combining maritime flexibility with land connectivity, CMA CGM will play a vital role in the success of this transformative trade corridor,” it said.

“Additionally, a network of dry ports along the IMEC rail route, stretching from India through Saudi Arabia and the Middle East to Europe, will leverage the group’s logistics expertise, reinforcing the economic and strategic vision of this alternative trade route.”

However, the plans for IMEC plans haven’t reached the desired level of progress, due to intervening geopolitical tensions in West Asia, forcing stakeholder governments to recalibrate their priorities. But with the Israel-Hamas situation improving, the project is expected to regain pace.