Ocean carrier Zim is expanding its e-commerce service to the Port of Baltimore, increasing both the frequency of calls and size of ships heading to the facility.
Changes to Zim’s (NYSE: ZIM) service will occur in stages. Its e-commerce Baltimore Express service will call at the port from biweekly to weekly starting at the end of February. Zim also will eventually increase the size of the service’s ships that come to the port from 6,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit container vessels to 8,000 TEU container ships.
Zim began offering the Baltimore Express service last spring, according to a Thursday news release. The service utilizes the Panama and Suez canals, and its route treks as follows: Jakarta, Indonesia; Laem Chabang, Thailand; Cai Mep, Vietnam; Yantian, China; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; the Panama Canal; Kingston, Jamaica; and Baltimore.
From Baltimore, the line goes to Norfolk, Virginia, New York City, Boston, the Suez Canal and Kaohsiung. Zim says the call at Kingston will enhance access to goods from Africa.
The service expansion will enable Maryland businesses and the port to capture more mid-Atlantic market share, officials said.
“Maryland’s strategic location and proximity to more than one-third of the U.S. population within an overnight drive has helped spur significant growth in e-commerce around our state,” acting Maryland Commerce Secretary Kevin Anderson said in a news release. “We are thrilled to see that ZIM is choosing to expand its service, particularly at a time when the demand for goods is rapidly increasing both here and across our nation.”
