Crowley & Seaboard Marine in Vessel Sharing Agreement

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.

When the service commences in late November, each ship will call weekly at Crowley’s Port Everglades, Fla., terminal and Seaboard’s Port Miami terminal before transiting to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, and Colon and Manzanillo, Panama. Concurrent with the change, Seaboard will be moving all of its vessels that serve Panama to Manzanillo International Terminals.

A vessel will load in Miami and Port Everglades weekly for a Friday departure and then call in Puerto Limon on Tuesdays, Manzanillo on Wednesdays, and Colon on Thursdays before departing north on Saturdays from Puerto Limon. Each carrier will continue to provide its full complement of equipment types used in its Central America service.

All other Crowley and Seaboard services will remain unchanged.

“Our cooperation in this trade lane will allow us to continue to provide exceptional service to our customers while remaining competitive in the ever-changing market,” said Steve Collar, Crowley senior vice president and general manager, Latin America services. “We are particularly pleased that our combined service will provide the fastest transits in the market to and from Costa Rica.”