A new service offering of Aqua Gulf Transport is furnishing an efficient shipping link with Puerto Rico from the U.S. Northeast and beyond.
The Aqua Gulf Northeast Express Service, or AGNEX for short, was launched at Christmastime, in the wake of the departure of Horizon Lines Inc. from Puerto Rico service, and, according to Aqua Gulf executives, is off to a solid start.
“This program is turning out to be more successful than we thought it would be,” Scott Fernandez, Aqua Gulf’s vice president for business development, told the
American Journal of Transportation.
Fernandez, who from 2001 to 2011 served as a Horizon Lines executive, said Aqua Gulf began developing the AGNEX service as soon as the November announcement of Horizon’s impending withdrawal from the Puerto Rico market came out.
Working with CSX Corp. rail plus domestic truckers, Aqua Gulf promptly launched AGNEX, using 53-foot-long intermodal rail containers and domestic refrigerated trucks to bring freight from throughout the Northeast and as far away as Chicago to Jacksonville, Fla., the longtime hub of trade between the U.S. mainland and the island commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
After a typical three-day transit to Jacksonville, the AGNEX shipments are loaded on vessels and barges of the three remaining carriers in the Puerto Rico lane – Crowley Maritime Corp., Sea Star Line LLC and Trailer Bridge Inc. – which combine to offer nine sailings per week to San Juan, ensuring transits of between five and seven days to Puerto Rico.
Like the remaining three Jones Act carriers in the trade, Horizon offered sailings from Jacksonville, and it had also provided sailings from Houston and – serving the Northeast – from Philadelphia, to which it moved its regional terminal operations in 2013 from Elizabeth, N.J.
“We see a unique opportunity to continue providing Aqua Gulf Transport’s high level of service to this market utilizing our reliable intermodal network,” Fernandez said.
While the Puerto Rican economy has struggled of late, there remains to be a strong demand for food products on the island.
“People always need to eat,” said Fernandez, who noted that AGNEX shipments run the full spectrum of dry and refrigerated food cargos, from prime steaks to ramen noodles, as well as beverages.
As the service has developed over the past few months, Norfolk Southern Corp. trains have been added to the rail mix and Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Aqua Gulf has moved to increase warehouse capabilities in both Jacksonville and the Northeast.
In Jacksonville, Aqua Gulf has contracted to buy a 60,000-square-foot warehouse with rail siding, to augment its current cross-dock capabilities, and the company has already added 34,000 square feet of full warehouse ability in Pennsauken, N.J., a significant advance over its 10,000-square-foot cross-dock operation in nearby Cherry Hill.
“The AGNEX service provides our valued customers additional opportunities and flexibility to improve their supply chain performance from Northeast origins,” said Sergio Sandrin, president of Aqua Gulf, which in 2016 is slated to celebrate its 50th year in business.
