Maersk starts direct Cork to Cuba service calling at Mariel port
DENMARK's Maersk Line has launched a direct Cork to Cuba container shipping service that will call at Mariel port, 40 kilometres from Havana after the easing of economic sanctions against the communist state.
The service is an expansion of the carrier's existing CRX Latin American route, linking Mexico and Costa Rica directly with Europe. That route - reintroduced in 2011 -already calls at Cork, reported the Irish Times.
Maersk is expected to deploy six vessels with an average capacity of 2,545 TEU on the new Cork-Mariel route that will boast the fastest transit times in the market, connecting European exporters and importers to Maersk's network of feeder connections. These include a weekly service to the island's second biggest city, Santiago de Cuba.
In the past few years the container trade in Cuba has grown at a pace of 10 to 15 per cent per year. This is largely due to the easing of sanctions, and large investments and modernisation projects, such as the refurbishing of the old Havana port and the creation of a Special Economic Zone in Mariel.
DENMARK's Maersk Line has launched a direct Cork to Cuba container shipping service that will call at Mariel port, 40 kilometres from Havana after the easing of economic sanctions against the communist state.
The service is an expansion of the carrier's existing CRX Latin American route, linking Mexico and Costa Rica directly with Europe. That route - reintroduced in 2011 -already calls at Cork, reported the Irish Times.
Maersk is expected to deploy six vessels with an average capacity of 2,545 TEU on the new Cork-Mariel route that will boast the fastest transit times in the market, connecting European exporters and importers to Maersk's network of feeder connections. These include a weekly service to the island's second biggest city, Santiago de Cuba.
In the past few years the container trade in Cuba has grown at a pace of 10 to 15 per cent per year. This is largely due to the easing of sanctions, and large investments and modernisation projects, such as the refurbishing of the old Havana port and the creation of a Special Economic Zone in Mariel.