The Port of Virginia has announced it is expanding its portfolio of international connections with two new services that connect directly with the Latin American market.
One service is a combined effort by ocean carriers CMA CGM and Ocean Network Express (ONE). The CMA Americas XL and the ONE FLX are now linking the Port of Virginia to ports in Columbia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Columbia, and Panama.
In this particular service, the Port of Virginia is the last stop on the US East Coast.
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The other new service is offered by ocean carrier MSC, which has added south and central American port calls of its Ecuador NWC service to its Scan Baltic service.
The expanded service, named the Ecuador – NWC & Scan Baltic – USA, calls ports in Bahamas, Panama, Costa Rica, Peru, and Ecuador.
Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority, said: “This is an important development because it opens up an opportunity, that previously didn’t exist, to directly do business in some growing, important markets in South and Central America.
“We have not had a service that called South America’s West Coast and the result was most poultry exports moved via transshipment, or to other US East Coast ports. Now this direct service allows us to become more competitive in this area of business in both directions, north- and southbound.”
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“As ONE expands its North American port coverage on the FLX service, the Port of Virginia will play a key role by allowing us to better serve the South American customer base, especially with the refrigerated market,” added Dan Sheehy, Senior Vice President, Product & Network at ONE.
In October 2023, the Port of Virginia debuted the first shipment of components for the Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.
More recently, the port announced it would power all of its terminals with sustainable energy, expediting its aim of being carbon-neutral by 2040.
