Foreign competition to perk up domestic shipping

It has finally happened.

- MARIANNE GO

A foreign shipping firm has decided to throw its hat into the Philippine domestic shipping arena, which has been plagued for decades with the high cost of doing business, lack of economies of scale and poor port infrastructure.

This has made the cost of domestic shipping much higher than shipping from abroad.

Friday last week, CNC, the intra-Asia short sea specialist of the CMA CGM Group, announced the launch of a new legal entity named CMA CGM Philippines Shipping, making it the first 100 percent foreign-owned international shipping line to register and operate a domestic service in the Philippines following the government's expanded regulations permitting foreign shipping lines to venture into domestic shipping.

Headquartered in Singapore, CNC is regionally represented by an extensive agency network throughout Asia. CNC is the sole brand of the CMA CGM Group in intra-Asia. It currently offers over 50 services, continually strengthening its service network according to market demands and shifts.

The new domestic service will be launched with the Philippines-flagged vessel CNC PILIPINAS, a 1,037 twentyfoot equivalent unit vessel. The CNC PILIPINAS will sail on the Luzon Visayas Mindanao Express (LVMX) shipping service, with weekly port calls rotating between Manila, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and back to Manila.

The service, according to CNC, will support the establishment of new maritime routes, improving connectivity from major ports in the Philippines to the group's global network, reducing transit times, lowering logistics costs and fostering stronger economic ties and trade flows across the region.