SeaBridge plans Brownsville/Tampa service

SeaBridge plans Brownsville/Tampa service SeaBridge Freight plans to start a new barge service connecting Brownsville, Texas with Tampa, Fla., by the first quarter of 2008.
   Hank Hoffman, president and chief executive officer of the company, described the service during a panel discussion on short sea shipping at a U.S.-flag shipping conference organized by Marine Money magazine.
   Hoffman said the service will offer a four-day transit time and be aimed at trucking, third-party logistics and railroad intermodal companies, not directly with shippers.
   He said the transit time would be competitive with truckers who take three to three-and-a-half days to travel the same distance.
   The company has several barges that it is considering for the service, but will probably employ one with capacity for about 600 TEUs and will accept 20, 40, 48, and 53-foot containers
   Hoffman said his firm is a spin-off from SeaBridge Inc. a company that has even more ambitious plans to build a fleet of high-speed, roll-on/roll-off truck and passenger ferries that would operate on a variety of routes along the U.S. East Coast.