15 March 2024 (Lloyd's List) - CMA CGM, along with Ocean Alliance partners Evergreen and Cosco, and its subsidiary OOCL, have laid out their plans for the alliance's network for the year ahead.
The Day 8 Product, which marks the eighth year of the recently extended collaboration's existence, will launch in April with 35 services across the major trade lanes.
The network will see 321 vessels deployed, comprising 4.5m teu, with CMA CGM contributing 119 of the ships.
The US market will be a key focus with 20 services connecting Asia to North America; 12 via the Pacific to the US and Canada and eight to the US east coast.
European trades will be served by six lanes to northern Europe and a further four to the Mediterranean.
The new rotations will take into account the disruption in the Red Sea for now.
"Due to the unstable situation in the Red Sea, ships must be routed through the Cape of Good Hope, disrupting supply chains," CMA CGM said in a statement.
"CMA CGM and its partners are stepping up coordination and adapting the rotations of the Day 8 Product."
In a nod to the Gemini Cooperation's focus on schedule reliability when it launches next year, CMA CGM said the new network would "further improve services delivered to customers" and would maintain "high standards of visibility, reliability, and punctuality".
Separately, CMA CGM announced it was furthering its diversification from shipping alone by signing a put option agreement for the acquisition of Altice Media, a leading French news provider and the country's third-largest media company.
Altice Media would be jointly acquired by CMA CGM and Merit France, each acquiring 80% and 20% respectively of the share capital, for a total enterprise value of €1.6bn ($1.7bn).
"Through this contemplated acquisition, we have the ambition to pursue our long-term development into the media sector," said CMA CGM chief executive Rodolphe Saadé.
"Altice Media is a reference media group, with strong growth, talented teams and iconic brands. Altice Media's complementarity with CMA CGM's existing media division will be a key strength."
CMA CGM set up a dedicated media division comprising its local newspapers, its business and financial digital newspaper and its national Sunday newspaper. Altice would be combined under this if the deal goes through.
Altice Media generated revenue of €362m in 2023 and employs 1,700 people, of which more than 900 are journalists. The deal is subject to consultation with employees and approval from regulators.
