Broward County Mayor Ben Graber has announced an agreement with COSCO/Evergreen for all-water service between Port Everglades and the Far East. The new service began on June 14. The new containerized cargo shipping service further expands Broward County's business relationships with companies based in China and the Far East.

The announcement comes as Graber and other members of a Broward County delegation, including Port Everglades director Phillip C. Allen and Assistant Director of Cargo Marketing Manuel Almira, are participating in an international trade mission to China. The mission includes scheduled meetings with executives at some of the leading shipping and manufacturing companies in the Far East. This is the second Broward County Government/Business Mission to China.

'This is a significant coup for Broward County as COSCO and Evergreen are two of the Far East's leaders in the worldwide shipping industry,' Graber says. 'With the warm reception we received from our partners at COSCO, we believe there is even greater opportunity for trading partnerships with China in the near term.'

The newly formed COSCO/Evergreen China/USEC (CUE) all-water service will begin calling Port Everglades on a weekly rotation. CUE will deploy eight ships in the 2,702 teu/3,400 teu range servicing Shanghai, Yantain, Hong Kong, Colon, Savannah, Port Everglades, Colon, Shanghai.

Port Everglades officials anticipate that the volume for the CUE service could reach a level of 300,000 tons and 38,500 containers in its first year of operations at the South Florida seaport.

'We are actively seeking to expand globally by focusing much of our marketing attention on the Far East,' says Allen. 'The COSCO/Evergreen service adds to our growing list of carriers, including Evergreen and Marittima Italiana (formerly known as Lloyd Triestino), that provide service between South Florida and the Far East market.'

Stevedoring will be handled by APM Terminals, a leading and global commercial container terminal operator, with interest in more than 35 ports world wide and a total throughput of 20.6 million TEU in 2004. At Port Everglades, APM Terminals operates a 44-acre marine terminal that handled 90,234 teus and 479,291 tons in Fiscal Year 2005 (Oct. 1, 2004 through Sept. 30, 2005).

'It is important for us to continue building our relationships with China and explore new opportunities as well as follow-up on existing relationships with businesses from our first mission,' Graber says. 'China has become an important market in the new world economy. The interest by Chinese consumers for American products is increasing rapidly and the demand for goods and services is in an upward movement.'