Port Tampa Bay
“These new services are a testament to the tremendous growth of the US Gulf market and the significance of the Tampa Bay/I-4 Corridor region, home to the state’s largest concentration of distribution centers, which has become the heartbeat of Florida’s international trade,” said Port Tampa Bay President/CEO Paul Anderson.
On February 19th, the CMA CGM Group, a leading worldwide shipping group, announced that it will begin serving Port Tampa Bay in late May on its Pacific Express 3, or PEX3 service. With a presence in 160 countries and a fleet of 506 vessels, CMA CGM serves over 420 ports across the globe and is a member of the Ocean Alliance. The PEX3 port service rotation will be as follows: Singapore – Vung Tau – Hong Kong – Shekou – Ningbo – Shanghai - Busan – Panama Canal - Houston – Mobile – New Orleans – Tampa – Miami – Singapore.
“The PEX3 offers an outstanding service to and from Asia, and now shippers in Central Florida will have enhanced access to it,” said Nick Fafoutis, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at CMA CGM America. “With this new call to Port Tampa Bay, the CMA CGM Group is pleased to provide an invaluable routing option between critical Asian markets and a growing population base in Central Florida and the greater Southeast region. With the recent addition of Vung Tau on PEX3, the Tampa call will also be the first ever direct connection between the booming Vietnam market and Central Florida. These changes to PEX3 exemplify the customer-centric strategy that has propelled the CMA CGM Group to be the number one carrier in the U.S.”
Last month, on January 29, 2019, Port Tampa Bay celebrated COSCO Shipping’s first vessel to call Port Tampa Bay. COSCO Shipping, one of the world’s largest container carriers, added Port Tampa Bay to its Gulf of Mexico Express (GME) Transpacific service. COSCO Shipping calls at 267 ports in 85 countries and regions throughout the globe. A member of the Ocean Alliance, COSCO Shipping is a leader in the transpacific trade. The new GME service port rotation is Shanghai-Ningbo-Xiamen-Yantian-Houston-Mobile-Tampa. Import transit time to Port Tampa Bay from China is 31 days, and export transit time from Port Tampa Bay to China is 27 days. Connections on the new service will be provided to/from markets beyond China throughout Asia.
CMA CGM and COSCO Shipping join global carriers ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and Mediterranean Shipping Company in offering service via Port Tampa Bay. Linea Peninsular and TransGulf Shipping each provide weekly sailings between Port Tampa Bay and Mexico, and Seacat Line connects the Port with Costa Rica.
Port Tampa Bay is the closest port to Florida’s fastest growing region and its largest consumer market – the Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor. As trucking costs have increased, Port Tampa Bay’s location is recognized as offering the lowest delivery cost solution for exporters and importers. Home to almost half the state’s population of nearly 22 million residents, and welcoming a majority of the 126 million tourists who visit Florida every year, the I-4 Corridor has the largest concentration of distribution centers in the state. From this central location in the middle of the Florida peninsula, importers and exporters achieve significant savings in their truck delivery costs to serve the entire state, as well as reaching into markets throughout the Southeast and beyond. For companies involved in retail distribution, ecommerce, food and beverage, and manufacturing, the demands for same-day service, tighter delivery windows and shorter lead times are driving this shift in supply chain strategy. Ongoing pressures on trucking caused by driver shortages, hours of service, ELD mandate and rising fuel costs, continue to enhance Port Tampa Bay’s preferred location and proximity to Florida’s largest consumer market.
Port Tampa Bay’s position on the eastern Gulf coast complements the western and central Gulf ports of Houston and Mobile and the three ports, together with the Panama Canal, have been jointly promoting the advantages of the all water Asia-Gulf route and the growing markets along the Gulf coast. Together with container terminal operator partner Ports America, Port Tampa Bay is continuing to expand and upgrade facilities, having recently added two new post-Panamax cranes to complement its existing three gantry cranes and
implementing a phased build-out plan to quadruple capacity over the next few years as business continues to grow. The Port is also investing in new facilities to continue to diversify its service offerings and cargo mix, which includes a new state of the art on-dock cold storage warehouse recently opened by Port Logistics Refrigerated Services.
“Ports America is proud to partner with the Port in welcoming CMA CGM and COSCO Shipping,” said Mark Montgomery, President & CEO of Ports America, container terminal operator at Port Tampa Bay. “Together with the Port, we’re moving forward with expansion of the terminal, as well as adding cranes and equipment so we can continue to accommodate this growing market.”
Port Customers are thrilled about these new services calling Port Tampa Bay.
“We have been big supporters of Port Tampa Bay’s efforts to attract new services because of our significant distribution center capacity right next door in Lakeland, Florida. The Port’s proximity makes it easy for truckers who can make multiple round trip deliveries per day,” said Ali Hosein, VP International Freight & Merchandising, Rooms to Go.
“We ship our product to all 50 states and over 100 countries across the globe. This new service will definitely enhance our ability to serve China and the rest of Asia which is an important and growing export market for Amalie Oil,” said Rick Barkett, COO, Amalie Oil.
“As a rapidly expanding Tampa based company with an extensive Asian supply chain, this new direct service is very welcome news and will greatly facilitate our continued growth and expansion.” said Ben Meng, President, BMP/iGas USA.
“This is outstanding news which will mean faster deliveries to our distribution centers and ultimately to our stores and customers, said Rick Meyer, VP Supply Chain, W.S. Badcock Furniture. “We already have a great relationship with Port Tampa Bay where they arrange for our drivers to be badged, allowing us to pick up our containers at the port using our own trucks, delivering them to our DC in Mulberry. The same driver can then make a delivery to the store.”