Nuts! That was a good choice for ag exports

Nuts! That was a good choice for ag exports    Maersk’s announcement last week that it was ending all-water service from the West Coast to Europe on its TP12/TA3 pendulum service may be missed most by California agricultural exporters.
   A large forwarder/non-vessel-operating common carrier said the service was particularly attractive for shippers of products such as wine, nuts, and dried fruit such as raisins and prunes (marketed these days under the moniker “dried plums”) out of Oakland to Europe who wanted an all water option.
   Maersk said it would continue to move containers from California to Europe by moving them by train to Houston. But a forwarder said mini-landbridge routings are seldom priced as attractively as all-water services.
   The TP12/TA3 service had involved a string of Panamax vessels that traced a “pendulum” route from Asia to the U.S. West Coast, through the Panama Canal, to the U.S. East Coast and then to Europe, before returning to Asia, again via both U.S. coasts.
   Under the changes announced last week, the transpacific leg of that service will no longer operate and cargo will be absorbed by other Maersk strings. The transatlantic leg will no longer make a direct call to the U.S. West Coast.