Independent Container Line (ICL) is just that ' independent and has stayed that way for over twenty-five years. This is a remarkable feat for a niche carrier operating on the highly competitive North Atlantic trade lane. In an era of the mega-carrier, ICL has been successful in connecting the US East Coast ports of Chester, PA and Wilmington, NC with the European ports of Antwerp, Belgium and Liverpool. The privately held (German) carrier headquartered in Richmond, VA operates a weekly schedule of vessels of just over 1,400 teu that run in a rotation of Chester, PA; Wilmington, NC; Antwerp and Liverpool. Recently the company added a connecting service from Liverpool to the Spanish port of Bilbao and the Portuguese ports of Leixoes and Lisbon.

Services include Full Container Load (FCL), Less than Container Load (LCL) and its value-driven Supply Chain Services (SCS) program that works with customers to help drive out inefficiencies to reduce cost.

The carrier's focus on a single trade lane has enabled the company to have schedule integrity that is hard to match with multiple loops. Equally, with the highly specialized service the carrier has adopted, it has developed a customer driven approach. The approach has worked, as customer loyalty is high with the niche carrier.

Dale Ross, ICL's COO, said of the milestone, 'Our success is attributed to our loyal customers and the unrelenting commitment to quality and service from our vendors and staff. We value the partnerships we have secured over the years and look forward to the next 25.'