New China service for Port of Miami

New China service for Port of Miami    Evergreen and China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO) will begin calling the Port of Miami next week with a new China service.
   The Evergreen-owned 'LT Greet' will call Miami April 23 to mark the addition of Miami to the carriers' East Coast-China service. The carriers also call Savannah, and the Chinese ports of Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian and Hong Kong.
   “China is an important market for South Florida,' said Port of Miami Director Charles Towsley. 'China has shown remarkable growth at the Port of Miami in the past year, moving up from number 15 in 2003 to our first largest trading partner in 2005.'
   Steve Erb, vice president of P&O Port Florida, said, 'This is the cultivation of a concerted effort by the Port of Miami, Eller-ITO and POMTOC.”
   POMTOC, the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co., is the port's common user terminal and is owned by a 50-50 partnership between Eller-ITO and P&O Ports Florida. The terminal attracted national attention when Eller-ITO challenged the sale of Peninsular    and Oriental Steamship Navigation Co. to the Dubai-based terminal management company Dubai Ports World.
   DP World is in the process of attempting to sell the U.S. assets acquired from P&O Ports.