Crowley to add sailings from North Atlantic to Puerto Rico
Responding to customers’ needs for additional shipping service in the Northeast, Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liner services group has announced it will add sailings between Pennsauken, N.J., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, this summer, the company said in its press release.
“With our accelerated sailing schedule, we have determined that we can add a sailing each month between Pennsauken and San Juan,” said John Hourihan, Crowley senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico services. “We’ve been working diligently since last December to add capacity and tweak our vessel rotations and operations to accommodate as much cargo as possible. This enhancement will surely benefit our customers in the Northeast who have been adjusting to capacity issues caused by the departure of Horizon Lines from the market.”
The 580-series, triple-deck Ro/Ro barge capable of carrying 345 loads will alternate between the South Atlantic and North Atlantic services, and generate one southbound and one northbound sailing each month between Pennsauken and San Juan. Even with this change, all Crowley vessels operating on an accelerated schedule will be able to continue to provide four sailings per week between Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan.
Since mid-December, Crowley has, through a number of service enhancements, created additional weekly cargo carrying capacity. Included in these enhancements was the addition of a new flat-deck barge capable of carrying up to 400 additional loads between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico. Crowley has also ordered and begun placing into service more than 7,000 pieces of new cargo handling equipment, including 40-foot, 45-foot and 48-foot high cube containers, 20-foot ISO tanks and a variety of fixed and slider chassis.
Crowley has served the Puerto Rico market since 1954, longer than any other carrier in the trade. The company, with about 200 Puerto Rico employees, is also the No. 1 ocean carrier between the island commonwealth and the U.S. mainland with more weekly sailings and more cargo carried annually than any other shipping line.
Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 123-year-old Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family and employee-owned company. The company provides marine solutions, energy and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Offered within these operating lines of business are: liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its TITAN Salvage subsidiary; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales.
