Railroad Forums
Cosakita18 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:37 am Slightly off topic but also worth mentioning that Eimskip has been doing a brisk trade in CMA-CGM feeder traffic from Portland to Halifax over the past few weeks because of the situation in Montreal. The past few Green Line sailings have been stuffed with CMA containers that would have normally gone through Montreal. I know from a friend at the Maine Port Authority that they have been working with Eimskip and CMA-CGM to make Portland a regular call on CMA's CAGEMA feeder service between the Caribbean and US Northeast.That would be short lived. The CAGEMA right now uses ~1400TEU ships (twice the Eimskip ship sizes) which in theory should fit the berth at Portland (Thats about MAX) but CMA already doubled the ship sizes on that service a few years ago so once they fill those ships and need to go to larger vessels..... you're done. Don't put all the eggs into one basket, but CMA has been down to Portland a few times so it's on their radar. Portland is a great feeder port into larger ports, they should keep focusing on those 'marine highway' opportunities as a niche player.
CN9634 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:57 pmInteresting perspective. Based on what I've heard from my acquaintances in the Maine International Trade Center / Maine Port Authority, the folks in Reykjavik are eager to get some type of feeder traffic into the IMT, and CMA is the top contender given their existing partnership with Eimskip. Right now so much of the company's growth plans focus on the North America trade. There are plans in the works to make some minor upgrades to the pier at the IMT to handle Eimskip's new class of 2100 TEU ships (Which they do plan to put on the Green Line service in the future ) and create an effective loading area for ships up to 190 meters long.
That would be short lived. The CAGEMA right now uses ~1400TEU ships (twice the Eimskip ship sizes) which in theory should fit the berth at Portland (Thats about MAX) but CMA already doubled the ship sizes on that service a few years ago so once they fill those ships and need to go to larger vessels..... you're done. Don't put all the eggs into one basket, but CMA has been down to Portland a few times so it's on their radar. Portland is a great feeder port into larger ports, they should keep focusing on those 'marine highway' opportunities as a niche player.