Osprey Line starts third service to New Orleans

Osprey Line starts third service to New Orleans

   Osprey Line, a regional ocean and inland waterways carrier, has started its third weekly short sea shipping service covering the ports of New Orleans, Miami, Houston and Tampa, Fla.

   Osprey operates the vessel “Sea Trader” for this service. The vessel can carry 248 TEUs and up to 2,500 tons of freight.

   “We decided to add New Orleans to the rotation for the ‘Sea Trader’ because of commercial demand,” said Rick Couch, president of Osprey, in a statement. “Our clients wanted a New Orleans call on a weekly basis.”

   Before the addition of the regular weekly service, the “Sea Trader” occasionally called New Orleans on an inducement basis. The vessel handles mostly cotton, lumber, chemicals, resins, and building materials in the New Orleans area.

   Osprey started its first weekly container-on-barge service to the Port of New Orleans in 2000, buying a service that Sea-Land Service operated since 1995. Osprey added a second service in 2004.

   Osprey’s “Columbia Norfolk” service sails between New Orleans and Houston weekly. The inland barge service calls on New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.; Memphis; Baytown, Texas; and Lemont, Ill.