Port Tampa Bay announced the first direct link to Asia from the Port. Namely, Cosco will add the Port to its Gulf of Mexico Express (GME) Transpacific service. The first ship that will arrive in the Port is Cosco Piraeus, on January 28, 2019.
The new service will be Shanghai-Ningbo-Xiamen-Yantian-Houston-Mobile-Tampa. Import transit time to Port Tampa Bay from China will be 31 days, and export transit time from Port Tampa Bay to China will be 27 days. What is more, connections on the new service will be provided to and from markets beyond China throughout Asia.
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Commenting on the occasion, Port Tampa Bay President/CEO mentioned that this is a ‘historic development for Port Tampa Bay’. He also added that the new service aspires to provide importers and exporters competitive transit times on a weekly fixed day service calling Port Tampa Bay every Monday.
Port Tampa Bay is currently upgrading its facilities, as it had recently added two new post-Panamax cranes to existing three gantry cranes and have a phased build-out plan to quadruple capacity over the next few years.
The Port is also investing in new facilities to include a new on-dock cold storage warehouse that was recently opened by Port Logistics Refrigerated Services.
