CMA CGM is eager to link Central Asia and the Caucasus to its sea services. A new intermodal product will directly connect trains from the Middle Corridor to Georgia and forward cargo towards Piraeus and vice versa. The port of Poti will once again become the hub for cargo consolidation and forwarding.

Particularly, CMA CGM will link its SSL MED Caucasus Georgia Express (CGX) maritime service, which connects the port of Piraeus in Greece with the port of Poti in Georgia while also stopping at the Ambarli port in Istanbul, Turkey. This service makes approximately five roundtrips a month, meaning that trains to and from Central Asia and the Caucasus will have roughly a weekly maritime connection.

According to CMA CGM, transit via Poti to Armenia and Azerbaijan will last five to six days, to Kazakhstan 35 days, Turkmenistan 25 days, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan 45 days and Uzbekistan roughly 50 days based on Caspian Sea vessel availability.

CEVA Logistics serves the rail route

It must be noted that CEVA Logistics, which is CMA CGM’s subsidiary, serves the Middle Corridor route connecting Xi’an to Poti and further to Constanta, Budapest and Duisburg. It might be a China-oriented service; however, it could become CMA CGM’s leading rail product to link cargo from Central Asian regions to Poti and Piraeus.

CEVA started its Middle Corridor service in April 2022 in response to the blocked Russian route. The rail service offers a transit time of 30-35 days door-to-door and weekly roundtrips, which could be synced with CMA CGM’s port calls in Poti.

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Also read:

• ‘Poti is a rail port able to channel Central Asian cargo to the world’

• New blocktrain connects port of Thessaloniki to Serbia

• CMA CGM starts blocktrain service from growing hub Trieste

• CEVA Logistics in the Middle Corridor with weekly departures