The Tampa Port Authority (TPA) has welcomed the announcement by Zim American Integrated Shipping that it is expanding its South America Express (SAX) service to Tampa and the US Gulf.
“We are delighted to now have direct connections to Brazil and Venezuela which will provide for more competitive service and transit times for Central Florida exporters and importers in serving these markets,” stated Tampa Port Director Richard Wainio.
“This announcement by Zim also dovetails with the ongoing expansion of our container terminal facilities.”
The expanded SAX service incorporates the current Zim service between the US Gulf and Kingston, Jamaica, Zim’s hub for the Americas, with transshipment to its global network, including markets in Asia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
The weekly fixed day service will be provided with seven vessels on the following rotation: Kingston – Tampa – Mobile – Houston – Kingston – Victoria – Rio Grande – Itajai – Santos – Pecem (bi-weekly) - La Guaira – Puerto Cabello – Kingston.
“Since launching service to Tampa in 2003, Zim has been a great partner and we look forward to working with them to continue expand their business in this market,” added Mr Wainio.
Earlier this year the Tampa Port Authority completed the most recent phase in the ongoing expansion of its container terminal from 25 to 40 acres.
The terminal now includes 2,100ft of berth length, three rail-mounted container gantry cranes and a 100-tonne mobile harbour crane, with 43ft water depth.
The latest phase of expansion will be complete next month, to include extending the container gantry crane rails and lengthening the berth to 2,800ft.
Together with terminal operator Ports America, TPA has plans to quadruple the size of the terminal to over 160 acres over the next several years.
This planned build-out will be on adjacent land owned by TPA and ready to be developed as business continues to grow.
A primary driver is to position the Port for increased trade with Latin America, as well as Asia, resulting from the expansion of the Panama Canal currently underway.
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