CP Ships revives Portland/north Europe all-water link
The revised Med Pacific Express of CP Ships called at the port of Portland last Saturday (July 12), marking the resumption of a direct container service from the Oregon port to north Europe.
CP Ships is expected to compete with providers of intermodal services from Portland to north Europe via East Coast ports, and against the “PAX” weekly transatlantic service operated by the Grand Alliance from the neighboring port of Seattle.
With a frequency of about 11 days, the CP Ships service is marketed by four of its affiliates — Italia, Lykes Lines, TMM Lines and Contship Containerlines.
The Med Pacific Express service has a revised rotation of Vancouver, Portland, Oakland, Long Beach, Mazatlan, Manzanillo (Mexico), Puerto Quetzal, Puerto Caldera, Manzanillo (Panama), Cartagena, Thamesport, Rotterdam, Valencia, Leghorn, Genoa, Fos, San Juan, Cartagena, Long Beach and Vancouver.
The transatlantic service has now been extended to north Europe, where it will call at the ports of Thamesport and Rotterdam.
“By offering service to these two important European ports, it will give our regional shippers more options to reach their overseas markets,” said Steve Mickelson, marine marketing manager at the port of Portland.
Exports from Portland to north Europe will primarily be vegetable seeds like peas, beans and corn, along with grass seed, lumber and other regional products, the port of Portland said.
According to the global liner shipping database ComPairData, the Med Pacific service from Portland to the U.K. will have a transit time of 26 days, as compared to less than 20 days for intermodal services via East Coast ports.