New Container Service to Connect Port of Wilmington and Asia
A new container service connecting the Port of Wilmington in North Carolina to Asia commenced this month, Gov. Pat McCrory announced Oct. 31.
The TP10/Amberjack service, part of the Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Maersk Line, will call on the ports of Qingdao, Xingang, Ningbo and Shanghai in China and Busan in South Korea.
The service will feature 10 containerships in a rotation that range from carrying 4,300 to 5,100 20-foot equivalent containers, which is the standard unit of measurement for container vessels.
"This new agreement will help businesses that depend on international commerce by enhancing our state's connection to vital international trade routes, and allowing larger container vessels to call on the Port of Wilmington," McCrory said in a statement.
The governor's release said the route "is the only service offering direct linkage to the U.S. East Coast into and out of Xingag. This transpacific service traverses the expanded Panama Canal on its way to U.S. East Coast ports, offering the fastest coverage from Asia to Wilmington."
"North Carolina has a ripe market that continues to drive the decisions of the world’s biggest container companies,” N.C. Ports Authority Executive Director Paul Cozza said in a statement. “Our inclusion in this rotation not only improves our visibility in international trade but also ensures the businesses that rely on us will have that much needed connection to Asia.”
Earlier this year, the port announced that Asian carrier Yang Ming had condensed its twice-weekly runs to a single run featuring larger ships and that the port had secured an enhanced route that featured runs to Mexico. It has completed a project to widen its turning basin to accommodate larger ships and will soon undertake projects to build new cranes and rehabilitate docking berths.
