“The decision to call at Portland was a direct response to the transportation requirements of ZIM’s customers,” said Thomas Keen, vice president of sales and marketing for ZIM American Integrated Shipping Services Company. Portland’s local market and its role as a gateway for ZIM’s mini-landbridge service into the U.S. Midwest were important to the container line, according to Keen. Portland will be the only West Coast port of call for ZIM’s Asia-Mediterranean-Pacific (AMP) service.
The port’s on-dock intermodal rail yard and rail connections to the East were critical factors in ZIM’s decision. ZIM’s AMP service operates 13 Panamax container ships ranging from 3,800 to 4,200 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).
The port rotation for the all-water, direct weekly service is:
Eastbound: Piraeus, Greece; Kumport, Turkey; Constantza, Romania; Haifa, Israel; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Singapore; Shekou, China; Hong Kong, China; Shanghai, China; Pusan, Korea; Vancouver, B.C., and Portland
Westbound: Vancouver, B.C., Portland, Pusan, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Haifa
