• New service dedicates up to 100 weekly containers on rail for southern Thailand customers who ship products via Penang Port

• A depot at Penang Port with a monthly operating capacity of 7,500 TEUs handles special containers for specific products and non-dangerous liquid cargo

• The weekly Penang-Padang Besar block train service reduces the Thai shippers’ customs, monitoring and transportation costs

CMA CGM is offering Thai shippers an intermodal link via rail and sea that will transport their export cargo from southern provinces through Malaysia’s Penang Port, the company said in a press release carried by Hellenic Shipping on August 29.

The global logistics giant, which offers sea, land, air and logistics solutions, also launched a container depot at Penang Port with a monthly operating capacity of 7,500 (TEUs) containers.

The company, a global player in, also officially opened a container depot at the Penang Port. The depot also handles special containers for specific products and non-dangerous liquid cargo.

The weekly Penang-Padang Besar block train service, operated in partnership with Infinity Logistics and Transport Ventures Limited (Infinity), is dedicating as many as 100 containers each week for CMA CGM shippers, the company said in a press release.

Once laden, the containers on rail dedicated for CMA CGM shippers are picked up from Padang Besar, a Malaysian town on the border with Songkhla province.

Penang Port is a practical gateway for the southern Thailand exporters as the port lies on the coast of the Strait of Malacca, a trade-rich route to the Far East via the Singapore Strait.

The train will then set for the Penang Port to be loaded on the CMS2 and KCM2 services provided by CNC, the CMA CGM Group’s Intra-Asia specialist.

From Penang, the two weekly services will head for Malaysia’s top export destinations in Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Busan.

Designed to go the extra mile for customers with CMA CGM as a one-stop service provider, the multimodal offering secures equipment as well as rail and sailing slots, the company said.

The service also reduces the shippers’ customs, monitoring and transportation costs, and saves them on scheduling activities with different providers.

In August last year, CMA CGM also opened a container depot in Cakung, Indonesia, that handled 150,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) after nine months of operation.

It was the company’s fourth and largest container depot in Indonesia and handles special containers for specific products such as rubber and non-dangerous liquid cargo.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM announced earlier in August that it was resuming its China-Mongolia rail service, which had been closed due to severe congestion and long delays at the gateway port for shipments bound for the Mongolian capital Ulaan Bator in Mongolia.

“We are advised by the rail service operator that the situation has considerably improved,” the company said.

“We therefore wish to confirm the product rail Tianjin – Ulaan Bator is now back active in CMA CGM Intermodal and Transport Solutions’ portfolio and bookings are accepted.”

Source: https://www.portcalls.com/cma-offers-thai-shippers-intermodal-link-to-penang/