The CMA CGM Group announced the inaugural call in Seattle of the CMA CGM RABELAIS, 6,500-TEU containership.

The vessel is operated on the Columbus loop, a pendulum service linking Japan, China and South East Asia to the United States East Coast via the Suez Canal, and South East Asia, China and Korea to Pacific North West and Canada (Vancouver).

In response to the growing market demand on the Asia-Transpacific lines, the fleet was recently homogenized with the introduction of the latest generation 6250-TEU vessels bringing the total fleet to 15.

The CMA CGM RABELAIS called Seattle on July, 19th for a 48-hour stopover and the commercial operations broke a new record at the terminal with more than 4,300 movements of containers thus confirming the growth registered since the beginning of the year on this market.

'We have decided to optimize the Columbus service to keep pace with our customer needs while offering a high quality service', explains Jean-Philippe Thenoz, Senior Vice President, North America Lines.

The CMA CGM RABELAIS left Seattle and followed its rotation to Vancouver, Yokohama, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelapas, Suez Canal, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Suez Canal, Tanjung Pelapas, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Pusan and Seattle.