This is a press release from the Georgia Ports Authority.
Seaboard Marine has announced the return of direct, weekly service to and from Savannah, Georgia, to strengthen supply chains across the U.S. Southeast, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Piero Buitano, Senior Vice President, said, “With the return of Savannah calls, Seaboard Marine continues to invest in new vessels, strategic routes, stronger connections, and dependable service. We are providing importers and exporters across the Southeast with improved transit times, greater schedule integrity, and the reliability they need to grow their businesses. Seaboard Marine remains focused on strengthening its supply chains and delivering value to the customers and communities it serves.”
The first northbound sailing arrived in Savannah on January 7th, after departing from Colombia with stops in Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Rio Haina, Dominican Republic.
The first southbound sailing will be January 14, marking the official start of direct, weekly departures and arrivals, which will create dependable, end-to-end connectivity to key Caribbean and Latin American markets.
This service delivers benefits for both importers and exporters: Weekly Wednesday arrivals and departures in Savannah, improved access to Colombia and the Caribbean, competitive transit times and schedule reliability with transshipment to West Coast South America services.
Georgia Ports Chief Commercial Officer Flavio Batista said “Seaboard Marine’s weekly Savannah calls will add new cold chain options to our customers’ Latin America and Caribbean supply chain competitiveness. Connections to West Coast of South America relay services will also create more business opportunities.”
“To better serve our fresh produce customers, we’re investing in new on-terminal refrigerated services. This Spring, Georgia Ports will open a new $44 million U.S. Customs exam site on Garden City Terminal. The new facility will have specialized services designed for cold chains to ensure temperature controls, cleanliness, ventilation and high-quality outturns to ensure freshness with the clearance and inspection process,” added Mr. Batista.
Georgia Ports expanded refrigerated service offerings will include: On-terminal CBP/Agricultural inspections performed in a temperature-controlled environment for fresh produce; direct discharge from vessel to Customs Exam Site for inspection staging, reducing dwell time and accelerating the cargo release process; multi-room, multi-temperature inspection zones designed to accommodate a wide range of produce; two dedicated fresh produce inspection doors, supporting up to 14-16 inspections per day, with the ability to expand over time and the ability to handle palletized perishable cargo quickly and efficiently for CBP inspections.
ABOUT SEABOARD MARINE
Seaboard Marine is a trade leader in the Western Hemisphere with a fleet of over twenty-five vessels serving nearly forty ports throughout the Caribbean and Latin America
ABOUT GEORGIA PORTS
Georgia’s Ports in Savannah and Brunswick are strategic gateways, creating the most competitive supply chains in the nation with their level of operations, inland connectivity and supply chain ecosystem. Expanded refrigeration services on terminal are designed to improve and grow cold chains in world markets. These attributes combined with Georgia’s ranking as the top state to do business for 12 consecutive years create a strong business model for growth. The Port of Savannah is one of the best-connected ports in the U.S. to world markets with 38 ship calls a week, 42 doublestack trains per week and 14,000-16,000 truck gate moves daily. GPA has a self-financed $4.5 billion investment plan for the next ten years which will see five new big ship berths added in Savannah and a fourth berth in Brunswick to meet future growth. In the past decade, GPA has invested $3.2 billion in infrastructure improvements. As part of GPA’s community engagement efforts, $6 million is being donated to port communities to support a multi-year, local workforce housing initiative. For further information, visit gaports.com or contact Edward Fulford, Manager of Media Relations at [email protected] 912-964-3806.
260108- Press Release
Seaboard Marine has resumed direct weekly calls in the Port of Savannah to connect the U.S. Southeast with Latin America and Caribbean markets. (Georgia Ports)
