Crowley makes peak season U.S./Virgin Islands loop permanent

Crowley makes peak season U.S./Virgin Islands loop permanent Crowley Liner Services has today added a third weekly U.S./Virgin Islands service to its network by reintroducing a former peak season service as a permanent loop.
   The new service uses a 502-TEU ship, the 'Westerland,' which is scheduled to depart Port Everglades today, arriving in St. Thomas on Friday. The vessel has 60 reefer slots, in addition to having space for traditional 20-foot and 40-foot containers and other common-sized specialty equipment such as flat racks and open tops.
   The Jacksonville, Fla.-based carrier introduced the service at the end of last year to accommodate additional peak season demand.
   'We discontinued the additional sailing after the holidays, but demand has remained strong, so we're bringing in a new ship to keep the service going,' said Rudy Leming, Crowley's vice president of Caribbean islands services.
   The service complements the carrier's U.S.-Virgin Islands/Eastern Caribbean Service, which deploys two 600-TEU ships and departs Jacksonville on Tuesdays, Port Everglades on Thursdays, and calls in St. Thomas every Sunday, with subsequent calls in St. Croix, Trinidad, Barbados and St. Vincent.
      Additionally, Crowley provides service to the islands of Anguilla, Montserrat, Nevis, Saba, St. Barts, St. Eustatius, St. John, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Bermuda, Canouan, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Tobago via relay service.
   'What we've found is that customers really appreciate the extra weekly vessel capacity and our ability to have their cargo available for pick up on Saturday morning,' Leming said. 'That's important to grocers, retailers and builders on the island. The supplemental sailing also allows for an earlier arrival to our connecting feeder island services.'