CMA CGM to begin serving Port Tampa Bay in May

The call will be a part of the company’s Pacific Express 3 service, which will create the “first direct connection” between the Vietnam market and central Florida.    French container shipping giant CMA CGM will begin serving Port Tampa Bay in late May on its Pacific Express 3 (PEX3) service, the port announced Tuesday.
   The PEX3 port service rotation will be Singapore — Vung Tau — Hong Kong — Shekou — Ningbo — Shanghai — Busan — Panama Canal — Houston — Mobile — New Orleans — Tampa — Miami — Singapore. 
   Nick Fafoutis, senior vice president and COO at CMA CGM America, said the call will be the “first-ever direction connection” between the Vietnam market and central Florida.
   Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay president and CEO, said in the press release, “This is a further testament to the growth of the U.S. Gulf market and the significance of the Tampa Bay/I-4 Corridor region, home to the state’s largest concentration of distribution centers, which has become the heartbeat of Florida’s international trade.
  “These days, it’s critically important that you get as close to the customer as you possibly can. With this development, CMA CGM is doing exactly that,” Anderson said.
   The announcement came less than a month after COSCO, the world’s third-largest container shipper, began direct calls from Asia to Port Tampa Bay. 
   The port recently added two post-Panamax cranes to complement three existing gantry cranes and implemented a phased build-out plan to quadruple capacity over the next few years. Port Tampa Bay also is investing in new facilities to diversify its service offerings and cargo mix, according to the press release.
   Mark Montgomery, president and CEO of Ports America, the container terminal operator at Port Tampa Bay, said, “Together with the port, we’re moving forward with expansion of the terminal, as well as adding cranes and equipment so we can continue to accommodate this growing market.”