Posted on March 10, 2022
Singapore-based ocean carrier Sea Lead Shipping Pte Ltd. will bring its first U.S. East Coast container service to the Port of Jacksonville (Jaxport), the Jacksonville Port Authority and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week.
Beginning May 7, the port will serve as the carrier’s last port of call on its Asia East Coast rotation, connecting the port to four locations in Asia: Nansha, Ningbo and Qingdao in China and Busan in South Korea. The first ship to arrive at Blount Island Marine Terminal, the Hakuna Matata, will have the capacity to carry up to 6,661 20-foot equivalent units, Jaxport officials said in a press release.
The Port of Long Beach in California is the only port that Sea Lead currently serves in the United States through a trans-Pacific service launched in June 2021. The carrier’s decision to come to Jaxport rested on key factors of uncongested berths and a 47-foot deepening process currently in the works, Jaxport officials said. More than $200 million worth of terminal upgrades are underway at the port.
“We are confident that the market and our partners will respond well to the service, and we look forward to developing strong partnerships on this trade lane,” said Sea Lead Managing Director Cho Kit Wei.
