Caribbean goes global: CMA CGM revises Caribbean Basin services.(Company overview)

BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam

When John Driscoll, vice president and general manager of CMA CGM (Caribbean) Inc., looks out the window of his office 20 floors above Biscayne Bay, he can see far beyond the Port of Miami and the regular arrivals of CMA CGM's tidy container vessels.

Where once CMA CGM was known mainly for its CAGEMA Mainliner and inter-island services, the lifeline from South Florida to the West Indies, CMA CGM has rapidly become a powerhouse in the entire Caribbean Basin.

This month, the world's third-largest carrier begins unprecedented direct weekly service from Asia to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Kingston, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and linking three Central American ports with direct weekly service to Northern Europe. And the steady yet dramatic growth of the Caribbean region is but one part of the CMA CGM march toward global dominance.

Driscoll said the company was able to complete its scheme for a significant presence in all principal trade lanes with the acquisition of Delmas, a major carrier between West Africa and Europe with 50 ships in its fleet.

"CMA CGM group, since the acquisition of the Delmas group, operates a modern fleet of about 242 vessels on over 80 major shipping routes," Driscoll said. It has 79 vessels on order for delivery between 2006 and 2009.

Global presence In 2005, the group transported 5.2 million TEUs with total revenue of 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion). Driscoll added, "With more than 350 ports of …