Puerto Limon News

The Meyer's Group has ordered two Damen ASD 2913 Tugs to operate in the newly expanded Panama Canal. At an official signing ceremony at the Panama Maritime XIII World Conference, Michel Mittelmeyer, Chief Executive Officer said the Meyer’s Group was awarded a contract last year to offer towage support in the new Panama Canal locks. These new tugs fulfill the requirements of the Panama Canal Authority as more powerful vessels, of at least 80 metric tons bollard pull, are needed given the ever-increasing size of vessels, added Mittelmeyer.

CMA CGM’s European Caribbean Service is to begin calling at DP World London Gateway Port following enhancements to the rotation. It means that this particular service will be calling in the UK for the first time on Friday, January 6. Dedicated to reefer transport, the service will provide one of the shortest transit times on the market between Central America and North Europe. It also enables the UK to connect with the whole of the Caribbean region through CMA CGM’s strategic hub in Kingston, Jamaica. The new ECS rotation will be: Puerto Limon, Kingston, Rotterdam, DP World London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Caucedo, Kingston, Santo Tomas de Castilla, Puerto Cortes and Puerto Limon.

CMA CGM is pleased to announce an improved service offer directly connecting North Europe with Central America. The enhanced ECS service will provide one of the shortest transit times on the market, linking Rotterdam from Costa Rica in only 14 days and adding London as a port of call in 15 days. This offer is dedicated to reefer transport from Central America and the Caribbean to North Europe and allows to connect the United Kingdom with all of the Caribbean through CMA CGM’s strategic hub in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the most modern ports in the area. Offered in cooperation with Hapag–Lloyd, the service will be run by five state of the art CMA CGM vessels with 2300 TEUs and 550 reefer plugs and one Hapag–Lloyd vessel.

Crowley Maritime Corporation announced that it is launching a new weekly fixed-day container shipping service between Jacksonville and Costa Rica. The service’s two containerships will call at the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Talleyrand Terminal, making port calls in Jacksonville on Thursdays, Port Everglades, Fla., on Fridays, and arrive in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, on Wednesdays. “We are confident this service enhancement will add a new dimension to our portfolio of Latin America services and bring increased efficiency and savings to our customers…

At 2:10 a.m. Jan. 3, 2015, while en route to Oranjestad, Aruba, Holland America Line’s ms Zuiderdam answered a distress call from the Bahamian inter-island vessel Excalibur that was sinking with eight crewmembers onboard. Zuiderdam was approximately 15 miles away and the closest ship in the area. Zuiderdam altered course and was able to successfully execute a nighttime rescue of all eight crewmembers at 3:01 a.m. The ship brought them onboard and provided food and accommodations. The rescued crewmembers debarked in Aruba on Jan. “Congratulations to the officers and crew onboard Zuiderdam for their quick response that saved the lives of eight people,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

Hamburg Süd shipping line has awarded the contract for handling its new EMCS – Europe-Mexico/Caribbean Service to EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg. The first ship will berth at the terminal on 13 November 2014. The regular service links Northern Europe with Central America and is scheduled to call at Hamburg on a weekly basis. Hamburg Süd is operating the service with six container vessels each with a nominal capacity of 2,500 TEUs. The Hamburg Süd ships will call at eight ports along their route. A round trip from Marin/Pontevedra (Spain) via Antwerp, London and Hamburg to Altamira, Veracruz, Puerto Limon, Cartagena (Colombia) and back takes 42 days. “A reliable transport chain is of the utmost importance to us in ensuring our customers receive their goods speedily and punctually.

As Britain’s new hub port celebrates its first birthday DP World London Gateway has expanded its network of shipping links and destinations, attracting a series of new deep-sea container shipping services. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has confirmed that from next month (December), its service from South Africa to UK/Northwest Europe will make a direct London Gateway call, switching from the Port of Felixstowe. The new rotation will offer the best possible UK port coverage, MSC has told shippers.

Costa Rica's refining company Recope has launched a tender to buy two 90,000-100,000 barrel cargos of fuel oil for delivery from September to December at Port Caldera, according to a document seen by Reuters on Friday. Previously this month, Recope bought three 25,000 barrel cargoes of MTBE, a component to oxygenate gasoline. The company, which operates the 25,000 barrel per day (bpd) Puerto Limon refinery, supplies most fuel for the Costa Rican domestic market. For this offer, the company is requesting fuel oil with maximum 1.8 percent sulfur. It will accept bids until August 25 and they must refer to fuel oil number 6 prices from the U.S. Gulf Coast. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Anna Driver)

In April 2014, a contract between JAPDEVA (Costa Rica) and Damen Shipyards Group for a Damen Stan Tender 1504 was approved by the Controller General of the Central-American country. The contract is the conclusion of a thorough tender process that started in 2013. With this contract JAPDEVA, the autonomous government body that manages the ports in Puerto Limon on the Atlantic side of Costa Rica, will expand its fleet of Damen-designed and -built vessels to five ships: the new Damen STe 1504, one other Damen Stan Tender and three Damen Stan Tugs.

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s liner services group and Seaboard Marine Ltd. announced a new vessel sharing agreement (VSA) that will provide customers of both companies with reliable, weekly service on larger ships between South Fla., Costa Rica and Panama. By sharing vessel space, Crowley and Seaboard will increase total capacity in the trade by using two 2,500-TEU-capacity vessels, resulting in a continued high level of service, a more efficient operation and reduced carbon emissions in the trade lane.

Evergreen Line and Crowley Sign Slot charter Agreemnt for Weekly Service Between Florida, Panama and Costa Rica. Evergreen Line and Crowley Latin America Services have filed a slot charter agreement with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission that will allow Evergreen to provide northbound and southbound services to customers covering ports in Florida and Panama, a major transshipment hub for global trade, as well as Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. The weekly service for Evergreen customers includes sailings to and from Miami; Colon Container Terminal, an Evergreen-owned and operated facility in Panama, and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. The service for Crowley customers is unchanged with weekly sailings to and from Port Everglades; Manzanillo, Panama; Puerto Limon and Santo Tomas, Guatemala.

As produce farmers across the Americas gear up for the peak winter produce season, Crowley has added 400 new refrigerated containers to its fleet to accommodate their needs. The 40-ft containers were delivered last week at Puerto Limon in Costa Rica and will be distributed throughout the Central American countries Crowley serves within the next couple of weeks. The state-of-the-art units were purchased to accommodate future growth and to replace older units. The new Carrier PrimeLINE containers offer scroll compressor technology (inspired by the chamberednautilus shellfish).

routes. Republic and Haiti. On Dec. 7, Crowley will use the 176 TEU, Lo/Lo vessel, M.V. to transport cargo directly from Port Everglades, Fla., to Rama. Rama and Puerto Limon, every week. Everglades. seven the number of weekly Crowley sailings linking the U.S. America. Ro/Ro vessels. Everglades - Puerto Limon - Port Everglades. add approximately 80 additional cargo spaces into the service per week. Additionally, on Dec. service between South Florida and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Lo/Lo service. The new service rotation, which will begin on Dec. Port Everglades. General Manager.