New international shipping line sails into Port Saint John
Elizabeth Fraser | CBC News | Posted: May 27, 2021 11:00 AM | Last Updated: May 27, 2021
The Liverpool Express arrived from the Mediterranean on Thursday morning
The port of Saint John has a new international shipping line.
The first vessel, the Liverpool Express, arrived from the Mediterranean Thursday morning.
"Nothing better than being the first North American stop on a shipping service," said Jim Quinn, the head of Port Saint John.
Between six and seven ships, similar to a bus route, will travel through the Mediterranean, to Saint John, Montreal and then back to the Mediterranean.
"It will be a continuous rotation of ships," Quinn said.
The new shipping line comes following an agreement between the Canadian Pacific Railway and German international shipping company, Hapag Lloyd in late 2020.
The shipping company has 237 modern ships and serves more than 600 ports around the world. Meanwhile, CP offers significant rail distance into the midwest of the United-States.
The Saint John port was tested a few times over the past year to see if the cargo could easily be distributed from the vessel to the rail service.
"This new service will bring more economic growth to the region and provide a vital link to the world," Keith Creel, CP president and CEO said in a statement.
The vessels will be bringing in manufactured goods and fresh products to the North American market.
Right now, Quinn said vessels travelling from across the Atlantic are heading straight to Montreal. But they can't fully load the vessel because of shallower waters.
Now, those ships can arrive in Saint John and unload in the port city
"Those ships will come out fully loaded, they'll come to Saint John. They'll remove a few hundreds of a container, that will go up to Montreal," he said.
Why Saint John?
Saint John has also become the only Atlantic port to serve both the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways.
"That's good for the competitive environment in which business people like to exist and it's the type of environment consumers like to exist in as well," he said.
The trip to the port in Saint John is 320 kilometres shorter than the travelling to Halifax, allowing businesses to get items on the shelf a lot sooner.
"Shipping lines are looking for ways of how to get things to the marketplace quicker, more effectively, more efficiently," he said.
Quinn said the port is a lot less congested than other port cities in Canada offering both road and rail.
"You can't beat that," he said.