Malta Freeport Terminals said that CSAV Norasia will be using its facilities at the Mediterranean hub port as from mid-April, generating a significant amount of new business for the Freeport amounting to around 350,000 TEUs annually. Malta Freeport Terminals said it secured this new business in the face of very stiff competition from neighbouring transhipment ports which are presently under utilised.

Three mainliners plus a network of feeder vessels will call on a weekly basis as part of this new business. These include the Indian/Middle East/Europe Express Service (IMEX Service) which will be calling westbound at Malta Freeport Terminals and the Mare Nostrum Service which will be calling both eastbound and westbound and hence deploying two mainline vessels on a weekly basis. CSAV Jura will be the first vessel to call at the Freeport on the IMEX Service on 17 April.

According to Alex Montebello, director, sales, marketing, IT and operations, “Malta Freeport Terminals managed to conclude the contract with CSAV Norasia for a substantial amount of new business within a short period of time. For a transhipment port like Malta Freeport to be able to conclude with a shipping line within a short span it has to be well prepared and has to have the immediate availability of the right resources. Indeed, the transhipment business is a very volatile and competitive one, hence one has to be very attentive because new services can be lost to competitors as quickly as they are won.”

The IMEX Service’s port rotation will be Malta Freeport – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Felixstowe – Antwerp – Port Said – Jeddah – Jebel Ali – Port Qasim – Nhava Sheva – Mundra – Port Said and back to Malta Freeport.

The Mare Nostrum Service will be taking the following schedule: Malta Freeport – Jeddah – Port Kelang – Hong Kong – Xingang – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Xiamen – Hong Kong – Chiwan – Port Kelang – Malta Freeport – La Spezia – Genoa – Fos – Barcelona – Valencia and back to Malta Freeport. To complement this business CSAV will also be operating a feedering network at Malta Freeport. These services will be further increasing Malta Freeport’s worldwide network connections, which will now be totalling 132 ports worldwide, 69 of which are in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

CSAV Norasia is the result of the integration of Companía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) and Norasia which was Malta Freeport’s first client back in the nineties. CSAV Norasia presently ranks 21st worldwide. In June 2000 CSAV acquired Norasia, allowing it to enter the main East-West trades, while maintaining its focus on its other activities. Since the acquisition, Norasia has grown significantly, backed by CSAV’s resources. An early focus was on the Asia to Europe trade but rapid expansion saw Norasia become a major player in the East-West trades, extending its reach across the Pacific and the Atlantic.

CSAV is a Chilean publicly traded shipping company, presently the largest in Latin America. Founded in 1872, CSAV is one of the oldest shipping companies in the world. The carrier operates across five continents offering regular, fixed container services and the ability to carry a wide variety of conventional cargoes. The shipping line also owns vessels specially designed for frozen cargo, cars, bulk cargo and forest products. It operates an extensive intermodal service, other complementary operations such as storage areas and owns a maritime forwarding agency, and a container terminal in Santiago.

CSAV Norasia offers extensive global connections operating in over 50 countries, with representation in more than 300 locations and owned offices in key locations globally. The carriers have direct sailings from all major ports in Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. CSAV Norasia has a total of 36 vessels with a carrying capacity of 171,875 TEUs and six containerships on order which when delivered this year will be increasing the carrying capacity by 33,193 TEUs. The integration of CSAV and Norasia is allowing the shipping lines to deliver more effective and reliable shipping solutions.