Seaboard Expands Capacity at Port of New Orleans

Responding to increased demand, Seaboard Marine will employ a larger ship in its weekly Port of New Orleans container service with Latin America.

This week, Seaboard's 974-TEU Seaboard Caribe replaced the 640-TEU Heinrich J. The vessel will call the Port's Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. Seaboard vessels call on the Port each Wednesday. Other port calls for the service include St. Tomas, Guatemala, and Puerto Cortes, Honduras, with inland service to Managua, Nicaragua, and San Salvador, El Salvador.

"The New Orleans market continues to show strong potential to Central America," said Seaboard Marine President Edward Gonzales. "Employing the Seaboard Caribe, which has more than 50 percent greater capacity than the vessel it replaced, should allow us to broaden the amounts and types of cargoes carried."

"Seaboard Marine's expansion of service to New Orleans is great news for the entire maritime community," said Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. "During these difficult economic times, it demonstrates strong businesses can continue to grow services and expand market share. We applaud Seaboard for their commitment to the Crescent City."

Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.