Havana, May 13 (RHC)-- CMA CGM Group announced this week it will work with a Cuban partner to run a logistics complex serving the Port of Mariel, giving a boost to the island’s efforts to make itself a trans-shipment hub, the website Joc.com reported.

CMA CGM signed the agreement with Cuban logistics company Almacenes Universales SA (AUSA) to aid in handling container storage, warehousing, export consolidation and inland distribution at a 42-acre complex.

CMA CGM Log, the logistics subsidiary of the third-largest global container line, and AUSA will jointly operate roughly 129,200 square feet of dry warehousing and about 176,570 cubic feet of refrigerated storage at the complex.

The logistics hub is part MARIEL ZEDM, or Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel, a 11,370-acre special economic zone focused on logistics and industrial development.