Port adds Far East link, eyes Yucatan amid expansion

By Paola Iuspa
   Port of Miami operators have added a third direct shipping service to the Far East and are negotiating for a maritime link with Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
   Hanjin Shipping, one of Korea's largest lines, began direct service from Miami on Nov. 3, said Keun-Young Choi, local sales director.
   The line operates from the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co., the port's common-user terminal, said Christopher Morton, Hanjin senior manager.
   The Port of Miami has other private terminals run by Seaboard Marine and Universal Maritime.
   Mr. Choi, whose company was already shipping products from Miami to South America, said Hanjin decided to step up services here due to increased demand for products from Taiwan and Hong Kong in the US and Latin America.
   "We just follow trends," he said.
   Mr. Morton said Port Director Charles Towsley and Port of Miami Terminal Operating officials have been talking with Hanjin to create a Miami-Far East direct connection since 1999.
   "We plant the seeds," Mr. Towsley said. "Hopefully they come to fruition."
   Mr. Morton said the only other lines with a Miami-Far East connection are Maersk Sealand and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, operating from other terminals at the port.
   Hanjin also plans a direct shipping link between Miami and the Caribbean and Central America within two years, Mr. Choi said.
   Mr. Towsley said he has been talking with companies operating from Yucatan's Port of Progresso, Mexico's closest port to Florida, about doing business here. To date, he said, no line serves Progresso from Miami.
   Mr. Morton said he expects at least one firm to start uninterrupted service this spring from Mexico's southeastern peninsula. The region includes Cancun and Cozumel, popular tourist destinations.
   "We are discussing it with some company owners in Yucatan who want a direct connection with Miami," Mr. Morton said. "They consider they have enough volume to start shipping directly. It will move perishable goods faster."
   Mr. Towsley pointed to growth opportunity in the Yucatan, especially for perishables.
   "If you look at trade between Florida and Mexico," he said, "marine shipping is more efficient through Florida than the traditional way" through Louisiana or Texas ports.
   Mark Miller, communications manager for Crowley American Transport, a shipping line, said his firm is the only company in Florida servicing Port Progresso. He said Crowley's vessels to Port Progresso already use ports in Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville.
   "As far as I know, we are the only one offering this service," Mr. Miller said.
   Mr. Towsley said the port is eager to add shipping lines as it begins a $170 million expansion. He said changes due by 2004 include construction of a cargo shed and addition of two wharves, a cargo security gate facility and a refrigerated container yard.