KENT LINE PLANS TO DEVELOP FLORIDA/CARIBBEAN SERVICES

KENT LINE PLANS TO DEVELOP FLORIDA/CARIBBEAN SERVICES    Kent Line said it will develop its own services and organization in the Florida market following word that Seaboard Marine was terminating its slot-charter agreement with the carrier.
   The service, which links Canadian and U.S. East Coast ports with Caribbean destinations, will end March 31.
   Kent Line said it is continuing weekly service linking Canada and West Coast ports with Puerto Rico, Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. The service uses three vessels owned by Kent Line.
   Graham Fraser, Kent Line's vice president and general manager, said the carrier would announce details of service linking Florida and the Caribbean in the coming weeks.
   The carrier also said it has hired Lance Gibbs, a shipping industry veteran and former West Indies international cricketer, to strengthen its Florida/Caribbean marketing.
   Gibbs worked for Booker Shipping in his native Guyana before a 18-year sporting career. Following his retirement from West Indian cricket, he worked with Crowley, as Leeward and Windward Islands specialist, and Bemuth, on their Guyana service.