The Port Virginia announced a cooperative effort with ocean carrier CMA CGM that will greatly enhance service at the Port of Richmond, an upriver barge terminal located on Interstate 95 that extends the port’s inland reach by 90 miles, the company said in its press release.
The growing, world-wide ocean carrier is offering a Richmond bill of lading to the shipping public, both importers and exporters. Any shipper tendering cargo to or from CMA CGM at the Port of Richmond will have access to multiple ports worldwide that are served by the ocean carrier.
Headquartered in Marseille, France, CMA CGM Group has a fleet of 467 vessels that call 400 of the world’s 521 commercial ports on all five continents. Through its 170 shipping lines, the company operates on every one of the world’s seas. In 2014, CMA CGM carried 12.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).
The Port of Richmond is a 121-acre facility located on the west bank of the James River, south of downtown Richmond. The rail-served facility offers more than 1,500 feet of marginal wharf with 22 feet of draft and 300,000-plus square-feet of on-terminal warehouse space.
The 64 Express barge service currently offers three, weekly, roundtrip container-on-barge sailings between Norfolk International Terminals, Virginia International Gateway and the Port of Richmond.
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VPA owns and through its private operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals, LLC (VIT), operates four general cargo facilities Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and the Port of Richmond. In fiscal 2013, The Port of Virginia provided more than 374,000 jobs and generated $60.3 billion in total economic impact throughout the Commonwealth.