Port of Tampa Welcomes Horizon Lines’ First Sailing to Puerto Rico
M/V Horizon Discovery on its inaugural call at the Port of Tampa Container Terminal, October 4, 2009.
TAMPA, Fla.—The Tampa Port Authority on Sunday welcomed the arrival of the vessel Horizon Discovery and the launch of a new direct container service between Tampa, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico by Horizon Lines. Horizon Lines is the nation’s leading domestic ocean shipping and integrated logistics company. The 1402 TEU capacity Horizon Discovery now serves Tampa as part of Horizon Lines’ Gulf Express Service with a fixed-day, bi-weekly schedule.
“We are very excited to welcome Horizon Lines to Tampa, adding to our container growth momentum and enhancing service to our customers,” said Richard Wainio, Tampa port director and chief executive. Tampa Port Authority is currently expanding the Port’s container terminal facilities from 25 to 40 acres to be completed later this year, and together with terminal operator partner Ports America, has plans to expand the terminal to over 160 acres in the next few years.
R: Plaque and gift exchange participants Wim Lagaay, Chief Operating Officer, Ports America; Sal Kass, General Manager, Ports America Tampa; Jacob Wegrzyn, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, Horizon Lines Puerto Rico Division; Capt. Mark Ruppert; Richard Wainio, Port Director and CEO, Tampa Port Authority; and Larry Shipp, Chairman, Tampa Port Authority
Wainio pointed to the Tampa Executive Shippers’ Council as a major thrust behind the Port’s container initiative and the attraction of the new direct service to Puerto Rico. The Shippers’ Council is an organization representing the major containerized exporters and importers in the Tampa area that are keen to support ocean carriers that chose to call the Port of Tampa.
“Having a direct service from the Port of Tampa to Puerto Rico is huge for us as well as for other shippers in this area” commented Dennis Madden, senior vp sales and marketing for Amalie Oil, one of the founding members of the Executive Shippers’ Council. “We no longer have to put up with the cost and inconvenience of having to truck our containers all the way to the east coast, and can now load them direct at our doorstep here at the Port of Tampa.”
The Tampa Port Authority (www.tampaport.com ) administers Florida’s largest and one of the nation’s most diversified ports, serving one of the largest markets in the Southeast, with eight million people within 100 miles of the port.