Port Everglades readies for new ECSA service

Port Everglades readies for new ECSA service Port Everglades announced Tuesday that a new East Coast of South America service on Maersk Line vessels will make an inaugural call at the port on October 29.
   The new weekly service, which also includes space charters APL, CMA CGM, and Mitsui O.S.K. Line, is the consolidation of what had been two services between the U.S. East Coast and the East Coast of South America. The service is noteworthy for Port Everglades not only because of an anticipated 26,000 new container moves per year, but because it marks a major inroad into the South America trades. Port Everglades is best known for its Central America services.
   'This is the second consecutive year Maersk has added a new service to Port Everglades to further concentrate its Latin American business at this seaport,' says Port Everglades Director Phillip C. Allen.    'This move demonstrates the impact of South America and Central America in the South Florida marketplace.'
   As reported in Florida Connection on September 12, when Maersk announced the consolidation of its ECSA services, it said it would shift its Florida call from the Port of Miami to Port Everglades. APM Terminals, which is owned by Maersk Line parent company A.P. Moller, has terminals at both Port Everglades and Miami.
   In a sense, the increasing presence of Maersk at Port Everglades marks a continuation of historic services, Port Everglades officials noted. Maersk Line, the world's largest container carrier, acquired Sea-Land Service in 1999. Sea-Land had been calling the port since the 1970s.