Jamaica Freight & Shipping now exclusive local agents for mega shipping line - COSCO

Local ship's agent Jamaica Freight & Shipping Company Limited (JFS) has been named exclusive agents in Jamaica for one of China's largest carriers, China COSCO Shipping Lines Inc. The deal became official on September 1, 2016. Days later, on September 8, the M/V Xin Shan Tou became the first vessel under the COSCO Shipping brand to call on Kingston.

COSCO Shipping Lines Inc was born out of a merger between China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd and China Shipping Container Lines, which was announced in December 2015. JFS served as the Jamaican ship's agent for China Shipping for the past 15 years.

The total COSCO fleet comprises 1,114 vessels with a capacity of 85.32 million DWT, ranking No. 1 in the world. Its container fleet capacity is 1.58 million TEU, ranking fourth in the world. Its self-owned dry-bulk fleet (365 vessels/33.52 million DWT), tanker fleet (120 vessels/17.85 million DWT), general cargo and specialised cargo fleet (three million DWT), are No. 1 in the world in terms of capacity.

JFS being exclusive agents for COSCO, means that its customers will be able to benefit from larger vessel capacity and more weekly services, in addition to the original services which were offered by China Shipping Container Lines, services to and from various ports in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, Panama and the US East Coast have already started.

"We really want to thank our China Shipping customers for their loyalty over the years and we welcome our new COSCO Shipping customers. We look forward to offering them even better service options under the COSCO Shipping brand," said Anna Hamilton, JFS's marketing manager.

THIRD LARGEST

COSCO owns more than 46 container terminals all over the world, with over 190 berthing spaces. The throughput of its container terminals worldwide amounts to 90 million TEUs, taking second place in the world; the global sales volume of its ship bunker fuel exceeds 25 million tons, topping the world's list; the container leasing business scale surpasses 2.7 million TEUs, which is the third largest in the world; and its offshore engineering manufacturing competence and vessel agency business are also leading in the world.

On June 26, 2016, the M/V COSCO Shipping Panama made history when she was the first vessel to transit the expanded Panama Canal at its inauguration.

Jamaica Freight & Shipping Company is a full-service shipping agency that also represents Jamaica Producers Shipping Company, China Shipping Container Lines, Miami Freight & Shipping (NVOCC) and Mitsui OSK Lines. The company also provides port agency, stevedoring, equipment rental and charter broking services, P&I Club representation and dry-docking services.

Contact Jamaica Freight & Shipping Co Ltd for your COSCO Shipping queries at:

80-82 Second Street | Newport West | Kingston 13

Office: +1 (876) 618-0192-4/656-8629

Email: jfsjashipco.com

Fax: +1 (876) 923-4409/4091