Zim curtails Mexico Tampa loop

   The liner shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. has ended its Mexico Tampa Express service which connected gulf ports of Mexico and USA with Zim’s Caribbean hub port of Kingston.
   The weekly service operated with two vessels, averaging 756 TEUs, with a rotation of Kingston, Progreso, Veracruz, Altamira, Mobile, Tampa and Kingston. The last sailing, by Suzanne, is expected back in port at Kingston on March 1.
   At end March Zim is to merge its U.S. and Mexican Gulf-ECSA SAX service with a similar one operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co.. MSC will provide six ships alongside two from Zim and the merged loop will call Kingston where MSC does not currently stop.
   When the new joint service was announced on Jan 20, Zim told American Shipper that it would reestablish a feeder from Tampa and Mobile to Kingston. — ComPair Data, Kathleen Tyson