Port Tampa Bay recently marked the maiden call of the vessel SEASPAN LIMA, inaugurating Maersk’s new America Shuttle 2 service. This initiative comes as a result of Maersk’s announcement last fall concerning a weekly container service linking Port Tampa Bay with Cartagena, Colombia, established under the Gemini Cooperation as part of Maersk’s global East-West Network.
The new service significantly enhances Port Tampa Bay’s connectivity with West Coast South America, East Coast South America, and the Caribbean by utilizing Maersk’s global network. Furthermore, Hapag-Lloyd is set to join the service later this quarter, broadening the scope of this partnership.
Maersk is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is recognized as a global provider of logistics services. The company supports an extensive container logistics operation, employing about 100,000 people and conducting business in more than 130 nations.
Port Tampa Bay is experiencing double-digit growth within its container business. Strategically located near the I-4 Corridor, which houses Florida’s largest concentration of distribution centers, the port benefits from substantial market proximity. This enables customers to perform multiple daily round-trip deliveries between the port and their distribution centers, thus reducing truck drayage costs significantly.
In collaboration with Ports America, Port Tampa Bay is investing in infrastructure to boost capacity. Recent upgrades include three additional ship-to-shore gantry cranes, bringing the total to five, with plans to acquire two more. The port now features an expanded, state-of-the-art gate complex, with ongoing work on further paved storage that will extend the container terminal’s area to 100 acres. Construction of a third deep-water berth and a new on-dock rail-served trans-load warehouse is also on the horizon.
