Hapag-Lloyd, the leading container shipping line by volume serving the Canadian market, has added the 4,045 TEU Quebec Express as the fourth vessel on its weekly St Lawrence Coordinated Service 2 (AT2), which connects Montreal with Southampton, United Kingdom; Antwerp, Belgium; and Hamburg, Germany. The vessel arrived in Montreal on December 14 at Racine Terminal, operated by Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership.

Previously known as the Longavi, the vessel has been renamed for the Province of Quebec as part of Hapag-Lloyd’s tradition of naming ships after the markets it serves.

“We are extremely pleased that our long-time partner Hapag-Lloyd has added this fourth vessel to its AT2 service,” Ms. Vachon said. “This ship further solidifies Hapag-Lloyd’s service reliability and its commitment to the Port of Montreal.

By the same token, the vessel’s new name tips its hat to the first-ever Quebec Maritime Strategy. The timing could not be more perfect given the provincial government’s commitment to support the marine industry with more than $1.5 billion in investments and sustainably develop the marine economy.”

“We are confident that the Port of Montreal and Hapag-Lloyd will continue to flourish in the years to come in tandem with the Maritime Strategy”, added Ms. Vachon.

“The vessel name was chosen to show our close dedication to this trade,” said Wolfgang Schoch, Hapag-Lloyd’s Managing Director for Canada. “Hapag-Lloyd has a longstanding tie to the Province of Quebec and the Montreal Gateway. Our naming of the ship shows our long-term determination to be a relevant player in this trade. We are also very pleased that the Province of Quebec has dedicated a serious push to its new Maritime Strategy, which to us is an important step in the right direction.”

Built in 2006, the Quebec Express is 267m long and 32m wide. It has been sailing the German flag since the end of September.

As measured in pier containers, or total boxes handled, fiscal year-to-date volumes were up 5.7% with 468,776 boxes moving across SCPA docks since July.

Non-containerised cargo volume climbed nearly 13% higher than fiscal year-to-date plans, with 581,915 pier tons moved during the period.

Charleston handled 69,966 tons in November, while Georgetown moved 28,172 tons. “The Port’s November volumes reflect the sustained moderate growth we expected during FY2016,” said SCPA president and CEO Jim Newsome. “Our broad-based increases will remain tempered in comparison to last year’s double-digit growth, but I expect we will continue to keep pace with growth above the US port market average.”

Rail moves at the Inland Port continued to be strong, with 6,076 moves in November. Fiscal year to date, the facility has handled 34,307 rail moves, an increase of 58.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

The Board also approved a modification to the construction contract for the expansion of the New Orleans Cold Storage facility, which upon completion will double its existing storage space. Refrigerated cargo is a rapidly growing market segment for SCPA, with annual refrigerated cargo volume growth of 20 percent from fiscal year 2014 to 2015.