maritime

Cosco improves shipping services at port of Balboa

The Chinese shipping giant has launched a new service in the port of Balboa that includes the Panama Canal railroad.

Gabriel Rodríguez/LA PRENSA

rail and sea: The multimodal service, combining the railroad and a new fleet of container vessels, will benefit importers and exporters within the Colón Free Zone, as well as the Panama and regional markets, said Zhang Fucun, manager of Cosco Panama Maritime.1055318

Cosco Container Lines Company (Coscon) launched a new multimodal service yesterday in the port of Balboa that links Asian markets with those of Mexico, the Caribbean and Panama.

The new service, called the China Central America Express (CUE), was inaugurated by the ship Sydney Cosco, which unloaded several thousand containers yesterday in Balboa. The cargo was then transported to Colón by rail.

Coscon, Panama Ports Company (PPC) and the Panama Canal Railway Company joined forces to create a fast, competitive two-way service that operates on a weekly basis, said Lu Xin, assistant manager at Cosco Panama Maritime, Lu Xin.

The new CUE fleet of seven container ships, each with a capacity of 2,500 TEU, connects the Far East to Mexico via Panama. The multimodal service combines transportation by ship and railroad, offering Coscon a logistical advantage, explained PPC manager Alejandro Kouruklis.

The railroad will connect the port of Balboa on the Pacific coast with Colón on the Atlantic, facilitating transshipment operations (in which goods are shipped through an intermediate destination) on both coasts of Latin America.

The port of Balboa is equipped with 18 cranes, some 1,270 meters of docks and the capacity to accommodate a post-Panamax container ship, two Panamax ships and a cargo feeder vessel simultaneously.

The new service will benefit importers and exporters within the Colón Free Zone, as well as the Panama and regional markets, said Zhang Fucun, manager of Cosco Panama Maritime.

“We think it’s a great advantage to use the port and railroad to carry the cargo to Colón, where smaller boats will pick up and distribute the cargo in the region, added Xin.

Kouruklis believes the new multimodal service is good for Panama because it means the creation of more jobs and income for the country.

Caribbean cargo feeding services to and from the port of Colón cover the Guaira and Cabello port in Venezuela, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Puerto Limón in Costa Rica and Caucedo, Dominican Republic.