New Container Ship Service Offers More Options On Moving Perishable Goods From Mexico
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new container ship service sails into the Port of Philadelphia, offering more options on moving perishable goods from Mexico to this region.
Governor Wolf says the port is a terrific resource, since it's within 500-miles of 60 percent of the entire US/Canadian market.
"This could be a huge source of new jobs and economic development."
The ocean carrier Sealand is launching a new service carrying freight on container ships from the Mexican ports of Veracruz and Altamira, directly to the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia.
Company CEO Craig Mygadt says the all water service offers a 6-day transit time from those ports to Philly.
"Here you have an intact container with a seal from the factory that's put on the ship, and secure all the way up through the supply chain."
He says the same goods would take 11-days by truck.
Mygadt says the line will benefit producers and exporters of perishable goods to the US by providing economies of scale, security and reliability versus overland trucking.
The goods include avocados, lemons, tomatoes, and commercial cargo, including electronics.
Mygadt doesn't know how many more jobs it'll bring, but he figures a couple of hundred jobs for each ship, and it will have five a week coming into Philadelphia - from Mexico, Columbia, Panama, Guatemala, and South America.
