DP World Southampton Welcomes its First South Asia Trade Service

The arrival of the CMA CGM America on Friday 24 October 2008 marked the first call of a service at DP World Southampton which will operate on the South Asia trade route.  The weekly Europe Pakistan India Consortium (EPIC) service is operated by CMA CGM and will link Southampton with Karachi, Mundra and Mumbai.

During the vessel’s visit the traditional plaque presentation took place between Captain Adam Przybyslawski (vessel’s master) and Neil Fletcher (DP World Southampton’s Customer & Planning Manager).

Talking about the new service, Campbell Mason, Managing Director, DP World Southampton, said:

“I am delighted to welcome to DP World Southampton the EPIC service operated by CMA CGM, a long established customer of the terminal.  This new service marks a new ‘first’ for DP World Southampton - being the first South Asia trade to call in the terminal’s trading history.”

Tom Boardley, Chief Executive Officer, CMA CGM (UK) Holdings Ltd, added:

“DP World Southampton has demonstrated its ability to service CMA CGM vessels reliably and efficiently.  The EPIC service provides the best transit times from India to the UK, so speed and efficiency are extremely important to our customers.  We look forward to working with DP World Southampton and growing the volumes on the EPIC service.”

The CMA CGM America with a capacity of over 4,000 TEU and a length of 268 metres arrived at DP World Southampton at 1630 hours.  A total of six similar sized vessels are deployed on the EPIC service.