WILMINGTON: A carrier of refrigerated goods has added a weekly run at the Port of Wilmington, the N.C. State Ports Authority said in a release Thursday. StreamLines added Wilmington to its Blue Stream weekly service and will begin calling at the port on June 5 when its “Georgia Trader” ship docks at the port.
Since January of 2016, StreamLines’ Blue Stream service has deployed five vessels on a weekly rotation touching 10 ports in Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and the United States, the release said. “The addition of the Port of Wilmington to the rotation allows StreamLines the opportunity to service North Carolina’s important and ever growing sweet potato export market,” StreamLines General Manager Pablo Gonzalez said in a statement.
“Furthermore, we open the Carolinas to one of the fastest and most direct services from Central America.” “As we continue to expand our footprint, we see the trade lane between the southeastern United States and Europe as an emerging market for us,” N.C. Ports chief commercial officer Greg Fennell said in a statement. The new service is the latest for the port, which has added three other runs to Europe and Asia in the last few months. It also comes in the midst of numerous improvements at the port to accommodate larger ships. In January, the port announced it has ordered two new Panamax cranes for $27.4 million. Other projects have included widening the port’s turning basin, berth improvements and expansions to the port’s container yard — all at a total of about $120 million.
