Crowley Scheduled for Inaugural Tampa Port Call in Central American Ro/Ro Service

Crowley Maritime Corp. has plans to make its inaugural port call to Tampa, Fla., on Friday, September 02, 2011, as part of its Central American Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro/Ro) service.  This service accommodates Ro/Ro, breakbulk and project cargoes. Based on current market demand, it is anticipated that additional sailings from Tampa are likely to be as frequent as every three weeks aboard the vessel Crowley Americas, which serves Rio Haina, Dominican Republic; Port au Prince, Haiti; Manzanillo, Panama; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Santo Tomas, Guatemala.

"Crowley has served the shipping and logistics needs of Central America and the Caribbean for more than half a decade," said John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America liner services.  "And we are always looking to enhance our service line."

"We are delighted to be expanding  our relationship with Crowley, whose extensive track record in providing transportation and logistics services throughout Central America and the Caribbean is well known," stated Tampa Port Director Richard Wainio. "This service will provide exporters and importers of construction equipment, vehicles, break bulk and project cargoes with a more competitive option for trade between Central Florida and Latin America via the Port of Tampa."

Crowley is the premier container shipping company in Central America and the Caribbean, this year celebrating 50 years of service to the region. With Crowley's Speed to Market service, customers can ship export cargo from the U.S. Northeast, Southeast and Gulf coasts to nearly every country in the Caribbean Basin and Central America. Overland truck service is provided to Nicaragua and El Salvador.