By the second quarter of 2023, Costa Rica will be receiving two new shipping services at the Moín Container Terminal (TCM). These are the services: South Atlantic Express (or SAE for its acronym in English), operated by the Sealand shipping line, a brand managed by Maersk, and the serviceVenezuela Line (or called VEL) operated by the ZIM shipping line.
The SAE service will rotate between the ports: Manzanillo (Panama) – Puerto Moín (Costa Rica) – Puerto Cortes (Honduras) – Puerto Barrios (Guatemala) – Port Everglades (Florida) – Wilmington (North Carolina) – Norfolk (Virginia) ) – Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) in its rotation to the north. For its north-south rotation, it will cover the ports of: Norfolk – Philadelphia – Wilmington – Savannah (Georgia) – Port Everglades – Santo Tomas De Castilla (Guatemala) – Puerto Cortes – Manzanillo – Puerto Moín.
For its part, the VEL Service will rotate between Kingston (Jamaica) – La Guaira (Venezuela) – Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) – Moín (Costa Rica) – Kingston (Jamaica).
Improving the country’s connectivity
“Both shipping services improve the country’s connectivity with the main consumer markets, giving new options for the export sector to place their products in the main markets, as well as the import sector, which will also be greatly benefited by these new trade routes,” explained José Rueda, General Director of APM Terminals Moín.
A faster connection
The new service that Sealand will enable will allow Costa Rican exporters to have access to a faster connection from Costa Rica to Honduras and Guatemala. Plus, a direct layover to Port Everglades with six transit days. ZIM’s differentiated intra-Caribbean service will provide short transit times and smooth connections between Costa Rica, Venezuela and its main hub located in Jamaica.
These new services are expected to provide the opportunity for cargo from neighboring countries, such as Nicaragua and northern Panama, to increase the frequency of transits through our country and through the TCM.
“These new maritime transport services were able to be added to the weekly ship care scheme thanks to the excellent work of different departments of APM Terminals Moín. Preventive maintenance ensures that the dock has a high utilization rate, receiving between 19 and 21 ships weekly.
Likewise, the operating performance of the Terminal has improved significantly, increasing the number of movements per hour per crane and reducing idle times between each operation. This generates new spaces in the dock throughout the week to negotiate and add more shipping services that are in the region and can make Moín one more port in its weekly rotation”, concluded Rueda.The ZIM shipping company is Israeli-owned, and is one of the top 20 shipping companies in the world.
For its part, Sealand is a registered trademark in the United States and belongs to the Danish company AP Moller Maersk. In the case of the Sealand SAE service, there is a record of visits from these vessels in the past, before the TCM came into operation. While for the ZIM shipping company, the last ship that visited the country was approximately 11 years ago.
