SSA’s Tuxpan Marine Terminal receives first customer

The Seattle-based terminal operator’s new Tuxpan Marine Terminal in eastern Mexico received its first customer last Monday with the arrival of the 4,178-TEU Hammonia Venetia. SSA’s terminal in Tuxpan worked its first ship, Hammonia Venetia which operates on CMA CGM’s transatlantic Victory Bridge service. Source: SSA Marine
   Terminal operator SSA Marine has opened its Tuxpan Marine Terminal in eastern Mexico, receiving its first customer last Monday with the arrival of the 4,178-TEU Hammonia Venetia. 
   The Hammonia Venetia is one of six ships deployed on CMA CGM’s transatlantic Victory Bridge service.
   The terminal opened in May after three years of construction and was built at a cost of $370 million.
   Iker Allison, vice president of marketing at SSA, said 82 acres of the 210-acre site have been developed initially. Phase one includes a 1,824-foot berth with four super post-Panamax cranes able to handle ships with 23 rows of containers.
   The terminal, which is located about 1.4 miles up the Tuxpan River from the breakwater at the Gulf of Mexico, features an automated container yard with eight automatic stacking cranes. The ACS and ship-to-shore cranes, about 95 percent of the equipment at the terminal, are electrically powered, which will reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. The berths and the turning basin have a 15-meter depth.
   Because of automation, the 82 acres have the capacity to handle as many as 710,000 TEUs a year.
   Allison said a main advantage of Tuxpan is its proximity to Mexico City, which is 182 miles away, compared with its primary competitor, Veracruz, which is 252 miles from Mexico City. He said this can reduce trucking costs by 20-30 percent.
   In addition, the new Mexico City-Tuxpan highway which opened last October, allows truckers to carry two 40-foot containers in tandem, Allison said.
   SSA said the terminal will be attractive to carriers wanting to transport cargo to and from both Mexico City and the Bajío region, where many manufacturers of automobiles and appliances operate or are planning factories.
   As a result, Allison said commodities being targeted include auto parts, tires and other commodities related to the auto industry, as well as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and perishable products moving to and from the U.S.
   He also noted that Tuxpan is a major citrus growing area and is expected to generate exports of lemons, oranges and orange juice to both the U.S. Gulf and North Europe.
   CMA CGM’s weekly Victory Bridge service has a revised port rotation of Le Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Charleston, Savannah, Miami, Veracruz, Tuxpan, Altamira, Houston, New Orleans, Miami and Le Havre.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the loop operates with six vessels with an average capacity of 4,247 TEUs.
   SSA is seeking additional services for the terminal, seeing it as a good location for services to and from not only North Europe, but also the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South America.
   The terminal operator has permits to handle break-bulk cargo as well as finished vehicles. In addition, SSA sees potential for handling both import and export automobiles, Allison said.
   SSA has extensive experience in Mexico. The company handles automobiles and break-bulk cargo in Veracruz and was recently awarded a contract to build and operate a specialized automobile terminal in Lazaro Cardenas on the Pacific. The Lazaro Cardenas terminal is expected to commence operations at the end of 2017.
   The company’s main operations in Mexico is at the Port of Manzanillo, the country’s largest port, and Acapulco. In addition, SSA operates cruise terminals in Cozumel and Progresso.
   SSA entered the Mexican market in 1995 when it won a bid to develop the container terminal in Manzanillo in partnership with Grupo TMM. In 2003, SSA acquired TMM’s interest in the ports.