Auto Trade: Canaveral, PhilaPort

Port Canaveral Auto Imports Exceed 10,000

Port Canaveral’s ro/ro business is taking off, with ships arriving and departing at increasing frequency laden with autos and heavy equipment. On July 20, MOL Mermaid Ace became the 13th auto carrier to visit the port in recent months.

Earlier this year, MOL began new carrier service to Port Canaveral for vehicle imports from the west coast of Mexico, nearly doubling the port’s ro/ro operations. On May 30, MOL Lavender Ace delivered the port’s 10,000th vehicle.

"The growing Central Florida market is driving RO/RO business in Port Canaveral," said Port CEO Captain John Murray. "We are the ideal gateway to that growth. Shippers want cost-saving access to high-demand consuming markets such as Orlando, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Miami, and Southwest Florida—all of which are an easy one-to-three-hour drive away from this port.  And, since we’re located on main shipping lanes, carriers like the highly efficient routing to reduce inbound and outbound transit time."

Early in 2016, Port Canaveral completed construction of a 16-acre paved and lighted auto terminal. The investments in infrastructure coupled with the port’s partnership with ro/ro terminal operator Autoport, has expanded opportunities for growing cargo business. Since then, Port Canaveral has become a major exporter to Central America of heavy equipment and trucks used in forestry, mining and agriculture. Imported vehicles from Mexico are shipped to dealers in central and south Florida.

PhilaPort Opens New Auto Berth at Pier 122

The docking last month of M/V GLOVIS Comet with its cargo of 2,176 Hyundai and Kia automobiles marked the first vessel at PhilaPort’s Pier 120 in twenty years. It also gave the port a second ro/ro berth.

"This is a true transformation story," said PhilaPort CEO Jeff Theobald. "In conjunction with our customer: Hyundai GLOVIS tenant USD Group, the Teamsters and the ILA, we were able to retool the pier and put it back to work."

The port began handling auto imports in 2010; this year is expecting 200,000. This month Hyundai GLOVIS offloaded PhilaPort’s one millionth vehicle import.

Development of a vessel berth directly adjacent to the VPC (vehicle processing center) was a high priority for PhilaPort. Pier 122, once an iron ore handling facility, was purchased by PhilaPort from Conrail in 2007.

The second berth is adjacent to two major rail lines Norfolk Southern and CSX, the I-95 corridor, and the VPC.

"The second berth for roll-on roll-off cargo is critical to Hyundai GLOVIS for many reasons," stated Glenn Clift, president and CEO of Hyundai GLOVIS in the United States. "It allows for two vessels to call at the Port of Philadelphia at the same time. More importantly, it allows for us to attract U.S. export auto business and other third party businesses like machinery and farm equipment."