Container service returning to Portland
Container ship service is slated to return to Portland this spring, connecting the port with Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
New York-based American Feeder Lines is planning a weekly container ship service aimed at connecting shipping routes along the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Miami and potentially Texas, according to the Portland Press Herald. The service, called the New England-Halifax Shuttle, would transport both international and domestic cargo, and would use a fleet of smaller ships to move cargo brought in from large vessels. American Feeder Lines is still working on a charter agreement with a ship to call on Portland that would have a capacity of about 550 containers. The company plans to charter a foreign-flagged vessel this year to launch the service, but will eventually build 10 ships to U.S. standards and is working to get financing for the first, which would take two years to build, according to the paper.
Container service at Portland's International Marine Terminal has been sporadic over the past few years. A previous weekly service with Halifax ended in 2007, and a biweekly cargo service to New York that began that year ended last August. The service would put about 20 longshoremen currently idled back to work and offer new shipping options for Maine businesses, including paper mills and other large operations.
For more on planned upgrades to the International Marine Terminal, read "Going my way."
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