Starting in May, Costa Rica will have a permanent commercial relationship with the Israeli shipping company ZIM, and the U.S. shipping company Sealand, which is part of the Maersk group, according to the company's release.
These new services will allow Costa Rican exporters and importers to have greater access to strategic commercial points with a faster connection.
Costa Rica welcomed two new shipping services at the Moín Container Terminal (TCM) this month. The maiden call of the Venezuela Line (VEL) service operated by the ZIM shipping line called the TCM on 17 May and the South Atlantic Express (SAE) service, operated by shipping line, Sealand on May 1.
The new SAE service will provide Costa Rican exporters with a faster connection from Costa Rica to Honduras and Guatemala. In addition, it also offers a direct call to Port Everglades with just six days transit time.
The SAE service will call the ports of Manzanillo (Panama) - Puerto Moin (Costa Rica) - Puerto Cortes (Honduras) - Puerto Barrios (Guatemala) - Port Everglades (Florida) - Wilmington (North Carolina) - Norfolk (Virginia) - Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) in its northern rotation. For its north to 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.
ZIM's differentiated intra-Caribbean service will provide short transit times and seamless connections between Costa Rica, Venezuela and its main hub in Jamaica. The VEL Service will call Kingston (Jamaica) - La Guaira (Venezuela) - Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) - Moín (Costa Rica) - Kingston (Jamaica).
These new services are expected to increase the attractiveness of routing cargo from neighboring countries, such as Nicaragua and northern Panama, through Costa Rica and the TCM due to increased frequency.
ZIM is an Israeli-owned shipping company and is one of the top 20 shipping lines in the world. Sealand is a registered trademark in the United States and belongs to the Danish company AP Moller-Maersk. Historically, Sealand's SAE called Costa Rica, prior to TCM becoming operational. The last ship from shipping line ZIM to visit the country was approximately 11 years ago.