Crowley adds Everglades/St. Maarten link

Crowley adds Everglades/St. Maarten link    Crowley Maritime Corp. has enhanced its liner container shipping services by adding a direct, fixed-day sailing from Port Everglades, Fla., to St. Maarten in the Caribbean.
   This new direct offering improves Crowley’s service by reducing the time it takes to ship to St. Maarten from South Florida by one full day.
   Also, cargo is now scheduled to arrive on Sundays, which makes Crowley one of the first carriers in St. Maarten each week and allows stores to be stocked before the week begins — particularly with perishable cargo such as fresh produce, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based carrier said.
   In addition, the new schedule will allow for earlier delivery of shipments via feeder vessels to surrounding islands in the Caribbean, including Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla, St. Eustatius, St. Barth’s, Montserrat and Saba. 'With the new service, cargo is scheduled to arrive earlier on Mondays, instead of later in the day, or on Tuesdays, as was previously the case,' Crowley said.
   Crowley will use the lift-on/lift-off containership, Stadt Hannover, for the new sailing, offering shippers the opportunity to access a wide variety of equipment, such as flat-rack containers for oversized cargo, open-top containers, and 20-foot and 40-foot refrigerated high-cube and dry containers.
   “This lo/lo service is well suited for almost any kind of shipment to the islands, including foodstuffs, grocery and building products, project and related non-containerized cargoes,” said Matt Jackson, vice president of Crowley's Caribbean services.
   The new schedule calls for the Stadt Hannover to depart Port Everglades on Wednesday evenings for a Sunday morning arrival in St. Maarten. On Sunday evenings, feeder vessels leave St. Maarten for Monday arrivals in Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla, St. Eustatius, St. Barth’s, Montserrat and Saba. The vessel returns to Port Everglades on Wednesday mornings and the rotation begins again that evening.