The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) has become the first Southeast U.S. port of call in the Premier Alliance’s East Coast 3 (EC3) container service. This new development directly links Jacksonville with ports in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. The service is operated weekly by Ocean Network Express, HMM, and Yang Ming. The revised service reduces transit times from Asia to Jacksonville by up to five days.
The updated port rotation includes Laem Chabang in Thailand; Cai Mep in Vietnam; Singapore; Colombo in Sri Lanka; Halifax in Canada; New York; Jacksonville; Savannah; Charleston; Norfolk; New York again; Halifax once more; back to Singapore, and then returning to Laem Chabang.
Ships on this route will dock at the newly modernized SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island. The terminal boasts a 47-foot-deep shipping channel and experiences no berth congestion, which improves schedule reliability.
“Jacksonville’s position as the first Southeast port of call means shippers benefit from faster transit times and the efficiency of our modernized terminals,” stated JAXPORT Chief Commercial Officer Robert Peek. “This service provides speed and reliability for our customers and strengthens Jacksonville’s role as a gateway to the growing Southeast U.S. market.”
A $72 million project aimed at expanding and modernizing the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island is nearing completion. Enhancements include 97 acres of new paving for higher container stacks and an upgraded terminal gate system.
Situated centrally within the Southeast U.S., JAXPORT is Florida’s leading container port by volume. It ranks among the top ports nationwide for vehicle handling and breakbulk operations. The port facilitates efficient vessel operations with two-way ship traffic and offers same-day access to 98 million U.S. consumers.