A new reefer service to Africa began calling JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal on October 10. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jewel made its inaugural call at the Port of New Orleans on Sunday, October 13. A huge bulk carrier, the 330,000 dwt CSB Years, anchored at the Port of Sept-Îles on October 17, preparing to become the first "Chinamax"-size vessel to load cargo at a North American port.

Jacksonville: New Reefer Service to Africa

For the first time in more than a decade, the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) is offering shippers the opportunity to move refrigerated cargoes from Jacksonville to ports in Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique. The first vessel in the upgraded service arrived at JAXPORT's Blount Island Marine Terminal on October 10.

Galborg USA has provided carrier services between Jacksonville and Africa for 15 years. The company recently upgraded its vessel fleet and now offers up to 100 refrigerated units on each ship. The service calls at Walvis Bay, Namibia; Cape Town and Durban, South Africa; and Maputo, Mozambique.

"Jacksonville is a good fit on the U.S. East Coast for Galborg as it offers minimum deviation from the Gulf, as well as deep water and well-equipped terminals," said David Groves, Director of Galborg USA LLC. "JAXPORT is accessible for our main southbound customers receiving mining machinery, used trucks/equipment, forest products, boats and containers, including IMO Class 1 and now refrigerated cargoes."

JAXPORT tenant Portus, a container and heavy lift cargo terminal operator at Blount Island, handles the shipments, which also include containers, mining and construction equipment and used trucks. Later this year, Portus plans to ship frozen poultry on the service. 

Norwegian Jewel Debuts in New Orleans 

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jewel made its inaugural call at the Port of New Orleans on Sunday, October 13. Delivered in 2006, the 93,502 gross ton Jewel, is the largest and newest NCL vessel to homeport in the Crescent City, with a length of 965 feet, width of 205.6 feet and accommodations for up to 2,376 passengers.

Norwegian Jewel’s weekly seven-day Western Caribbean cruises will depart New Orleans’ Julia Street cruise terminal on Sundays through April 13, 2014, with ports of call including: Cozumel (Mexico); Belize City (Belize); Roatán, Bay Islands (Honduras); and Costa Maya (Mexico). 

"The Norwegian Jewel demonstrates Norwegian's steadfast commitment to New Orleans with a newer and larger ship," said Port President Gary LaGrange, PPM®. "Cruise passengers sailing out of the Port of New Orleans have yet another exciting option with this beautiful ship, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Norwegian Cruise Line for many years to come."

New Orleans ranks among the busiest U.S. cruise passengers, handling in 2012 a record 968,849 revenue passengers and 180 cruise ship calls. Cruise Line International Association found cruise industry spending last year in Louisiana grew 42.5 percent to $399 million, generating 7,548 jobs and $94 million in income.  

Photo/Port of New Orleans

Sept-Îles: First North-American Port to Load a Chinamax Vessel 

A huge bulk carrier, the 330,000 dwt CSB Years, anchored at the Port of Sept-Îles on October 17, becoming the first so-called "Chinamax"-size vessel to call at a North American port. "Chinamax" refers to vessels ranging upward to 400,000 dwt, the maximum size that can be fully accommodated by ports of China and are typically tasked with transporting iron ore to feed that country’s steel industry. 

Built in 2012 and registered in Hong Kong, CSB Years is 330 meters long, 57 meters wide, 31.3 meters high and has a summer draft of 22.124 meters. At Sept-Iles, it will be loaded with 300,000 tons of iron ore concentrate from Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s Bloom Lake mine in northern Quebec province for delivery to Chinese steelmaker Wisco.

"This first shipment of iron ore product via Chinamax for our customer Wisco is consistent with Cliffs’ core value of environmental stewardship and operational efficiencies," said Don Gallagher, executive vice president and president – global operations of Cliffs.
"The technology and loading capacity (more than 300,000 metric tons) of these larger vessels will allow us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as maritime traffic, and enhance our competitiveness within the global iron ore market. It is exciting to see this new access road between Sept-Îles and Asia finally come to fruition."