THE Port of Tampa Bay has announced that refrigerated cargo and breakbulk specialist SeacatLine is to add another vessel to its Costa Rica-to-Tampa Bay reefer service, bringing its schedule frequency from bi-weekly to weekly.
The additional vessel will bring more capacity to fresh produce suppliers who want to access grocery and retail customers outside of central Florida, reports IHS Media.
The Univision, a self-unloading vessel with capacity of 728 TEU, is scheduled to make its initial sailing from Puerto Moin, Costa Rica, with arrival in Tampa Bay by mid-June, according to a statement from the port. The Univision will join SeacatLine's Juice Express, a 212 TEU, self-unloading reefer ship, on the Costa Rica-to-Tampa Bay string.
On the front haul from Costa Rica, SeacatLine primarily ships juice and fresh pineapples while the back haul includes vehicles, building materials, and project cargoes.
In a statement, Tampa Bay's vice president of business development Wade Elliott said the addition of the Univision, which can carry 130 reefer containers, will allow regional produce distributors to tap more distant markets via line-haul trucking along Florida's I-95 corridor.
'The availability of very competitive northbound backhaul trucking rates from Tampa allows them to serve customers throughout the Southeast and reaching into the Northeast,' Mr Elliott said.
At Tampa Bay, SeacatLine utilises terminal and stevedoring services from Port Logistics Refrigerated Services (PLRS), the port said. Opened in 2018, PLRS has a 135,000 square-foot cold storage warehouse at the port that has 148 reefer plugs and two mobile harbor cranes.
In addition to serving central Florida and the US Southeast, PLRS said the facility serves the US Midwest market via truck and CSX rail service.
Along with increased frequency of its business from Costa Rica, Tampa Bay is growing its trade with Mexico. Zim Integrated Shipping Services has restarted a weekly shuttle service between Tampa and Altamira, Mexico, with the 1,118 TEU Contship Key.
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The additional vessel will bring more capacity to fresh produce suppliers who want to access grocery and retail customers outside of central Florida, reports IHS Media.
The Univision, a self-unloading vessel with capacity of 728 TEU, is scheduled to make its initial sailing from Puerto Moin, Costa Rica, with arrival in Tampa Bay by mid-June, according to a statement from the port. The Univision will join SeacatLine's Juice Express, a 212 TEU, self-unloading reefer ship, on the Costa Rica-to-Tampa Bay string.
On the front haul from Costa Rica, SeacatLine primarily ships juice and fresh pineapples while the back haul includes vehicles, building materials, and project cargoes.
In a statement, Tampa Bay's vice president of business development Wade Elliott said the addition of the Univision, which can carry 130 reefer containers, will allow regional produce distributors to tap more distant markets via line-haul trucking along Florida's I-95 corridor.
'The availability of very competitive northbound backhaul trucking rates from Tampa allows them to serve customers throughout the Southeast and reaching into the Northeast,' Mr Elliott said.
At Tampa Bay, SeacatLine utilises terminal and stevedoring services from Port Logistics Refrigerated Services (PLRS), the port said. Opened in 2018, PLRS has a 135,000 square-foot cold storage warehouse at the port that has 148 reefer plugs and two mobile harbor cranes.
In addition to serving central Florida and the US Southeast, PLRS said the facility serves the US Midwest market via truck and CSX rail service.
Along with increased frequency of its business from Costa Rica, Tampa Bay is growing its trade with Mexico. Zim Integrated Shipping Services has restarted a weekly shuttle service between Tampa and Altamira, Mexico, with the 1,118 TEU Contship Key.
SeaNews Turkey