Mexican company offers new Asia-Europe route

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 2/1/2001

Finding the fastest, cheapest way to move freight between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans has been a challenge for shippers for hundreds of years. The Panama Canal has been the logical choice for nearly a century, but a multimodal shipping agent in Mexico believes it has an even better idea.

Inter Shipping Seaborne, S.A. de C.V., (ISS) an agent for ocean carrier Atlantida Line and Mexico's Ferrosur Railroad, has established a rail link that moves containerized cargo between two of Mexico's biggest container ports, Manzanillo on the West Coast and Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.

Containers depart Manzanillo daily, and transit time to Veracruz is just 72 hours, according to General Manager Gerardo de la Torre Contreras. "That's much faster and much cheaper than going through the canal," he said in an interview at the Intermodal Transportation Expo and Conference in Veracruz. If a container stayed on a ship moving from the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico through the Panama Canal, it could take eight days to reach the Gulf Coast of Mexico, partly because ships generally stop at several ports along the way, he says. Shippers that use ISS's routing can save about four days of transit time.

ISS prepares documentation required for the in-bond transit and shepherds containers through each stage of the journey across Mexico. At Veracruz, containers are transferred to ships destined for major ports in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Several ocean carriers, including Lykes Lines, TMM, and Contship Container Lines, provide frequent connecting service.

"This system is ideal for shipments from Asia to Europe," de la Torre said. "It is fast and we offer very competitive pricing."

For more information, e-mail issgerardo@intershipping.com.mx .