Port of Tampa welcomes largest box ship

Port of Tampa welcomes largest box ship Florida’s Port of Tampa on Sunday handled its largest ever container ship, the 4,038-TEU Kaohsiung, operated by Israeli line Zim Integrated Shipping Ltd.
   The vessel is deployed on Zim’s weekly Asia/Jamaica/Panama/U.S. Gulf Coast Asia-Gulf Express (AGX) service, which is being upgraded with larger ships than the 3,000-TEU vessels presently used.
   “The arrival of Kaohsiung and the upgrading of the AGX send a strong message to the trade about the importance of the Tampa market and the U.S. Gulf,” said Richard Wainio, Tampa port director and chief executive. “Zim Integrated Shipping has been key to our container development and we are excited that Zim has continued to invest in and upgrade its service via Tampa.”
   The AGX started in the summer of 2006 as a joint offering from Zim and Dubai-registered Emirates Shipping Line, which earlier this year left the service and exited the U.S. trades altogether. The AGX is the only liner service to offer direct connection from the Far East to the U.S. Gulf ports of Mobile and Tampa. It uses 10 ships on a full rotation of Shanghai; Busan; Osaka; Yokohama; Cristobal, Panama; Kingston, Jamaica; Mobile, Ala.; Tampa, Fla.; Houston; Kingston; and Shanghai.