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French container transportation and shipping company CMA CGM will soon begin calling at the port of Seattle when a joint service between CMA CGM and Maersk Line commences at Terminal 18 in June, offering new bunkering opportunities for marine fuel suppliers at the Pacific Northwest port.

Seattle will be the first North American port of call, followed by Vancouver, British Columbia. The container ships will then call at a variety of Asian ports before returning to Seattle.

“More cargo means more jobs for the people of King County,” said Port of Seattle Commission President Bill Bryant. “Competition for cargo is tough - this is a big win for the port and working families. The Port and Seattle’s maritime industry are excited to welcome two prominent leaders of the global shipping industry to our harbor.”

Ships from the two lines will make weekly stops in Seattle. Fourteen vessels, each with a capacity of 6,500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), will be deployed on the joint service.

“As the first stop from Asia, this new service is great news for increasing our cargo,” said Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani. “And as the ship departs, it will be filled with Washington products headed to markets across Asia.”

Maersk and CMA CGM will use the dockside intermodal yard at Terminal 18 to move containers between ships and trains.

“Terminal 18 has a mile of deep water berths, the largest West Coast container terminal north of LA, as well as on-dock rail and ample capacity and daily service at neighboring intermodal yards less than a mile away,” said Jon Hemingway, CEO of SSA Terminals.

“Maersk and CMA CGM recognize that Terminal 18 has unparalleled capacity to serve their customers, handle any class of vessel without congestion and deliver their intermodal cargo with the shortest rail transit times of any North American port for Midwest cargoes.”

“With the start of the Maersk Line and CMA CGM vessel sharing agreement, we are pleased to continue service to our customers and the entire Pacific Northwest through the Port of Seattle,” said Al Gebhardt, Senior Director of Liner Operations for Maersk Line in North America. “With this service, the world marketplace remains accessible to Washington and the region aboard Maersk Line vessels.”

“The Pacific Northwest gateway is of strategic importance to CMA CGM,” said Frank J. Baragona, President of CMA CGM (America) LLC. “With weekly direct service to Seattle, we offer our customers the fastest inbound transit times from Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, and Pusan. A Seattle call also offers greater flexibility in moving import cargo to our inland rail network, and westbound transit times for exports to Japan and the rest of Asia are also highly competitive.”

“We’re very pleased to welcome Maersk and CMA CGM to Seattle,” Yoshitani said. “We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with both companies.”