COSCO Americas to launch new service linking Gulf to China

In a response to shippers’ seeking sourcing alternatives, COSCO Container Lines Americas, Inc. has introduced a new service connecting Asia and the Gulf of Mexico via the Panama Canal.  

According to Timothy Marsh, CCLA’s Vice President North American Sales.  The Gulf of Mexico Express service, (GME) is slated to launch from Shanghai April 29th, with calls at Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, then Colon and Houston. 

The inaugural run will also be the maiden voyage of the new MV COSCO Auckland, celebrating her addition to the COSCO fleet.  

The announcement comes in the wake of news late last year that the Panama Canal Authority completed had phase three of the dry excavation project in the construction of the Pacific Access Channel.

COSCO – one of the world’s largest ocean carriers – offers a wide range of container and intermodal services on a global basis, with specialized service to all of China. 

In making the announcement, Marsh said that the new GME service is an example of COSCO’s efforts to “simplify” the lives of shippers.

“One of the things that sets COSCO apart is the organization’s massive resources and the capabilities of sister companies that we can bring to bear on customer transportation challenges,” said March.  “This year we launched ‘COSCO Comprehensive,’ a service that vertically integrates all of COSCO’s resources into a system that handles everything necessary to move customer products literally from product sourcing to store delivery with just one point of contact.”