Maersk Line joins the growing list of shipping lines calling at the Port of Boston’s Conley Container Terminal with the arrival of the Sealand Illinois, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced. Boston will be the second U.S. port of call after New York on Maersk Line’s TA5 service, part of their East-West Network, followed by Baltimore, Norfolk, Savannah, and Charleston. Foreign calls on this service will include Algeciras and Valencia, Spain, Sines in Portugal, and the Italian ports of Gioia Tauro, Naples, Leghorn, La Spezia, and Genoa. Maersk Line is the seventh major global container line on the Port of Boston’s current list of service providers, joining Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), COSCO, K-Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin Shipping, and Evergreen Line. Both Hanjin and Evergreen made their maiden calls at Conley Terminal in 2014 with the Hanjin Milano and Ital Lunare respectively. “We welcome Maersk Line to the Port of Boston and look forward to our relationship with the world’s largest container line,” said Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn. “This shows that our global shipping partners are responding positively to our commitment to grow the maritime shipping business in Boston and the good-paying, blue-collar jobs and economic impact that go along with it.” “Ensuring consistent, reliable delivery of global shipments is extremely important to today’s supply chains,” said Michael White, president of Maersk Line North America. “Coming back to the Port of Boston with our TA5 service offers customers a dependable, direct service between New England and Mediterranean markets. We will work closely with the Massachusetts Port Authority to make certain shippers have effective resources for optimal supply chain performance.” “New England is an important global market and shipping lines want to call the Port of Boston for the exceptional access and superior service we offer,” said Deborah Hadden, Massport’s Port Director. “As the industry evolves and our customers’ business grows, our container line partners will continue to deploy larger ships and we need to be able to accommodate them. Now, more than ever, we are acutely aware of the need to dredge the Boston Harbor so that Maersk Line and our other partners can continue to call Boston.” Hadden went on to say that Conley Container Terminal has seen steady growth in container volume over the last several years. Container volumes for 2014 were up 10-percent from the previous year for a total of 214,243 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, which is the standard unit of measurement for container volume. This represents the second-highest volume the terminal has ever seen, just behind 2007’s record of 220,339 TEUs. The addition of Maersk Line to the Port of Boston’s portfolio is expected to help move the Port of Boston toward a new all-time record. The Sealand Illinois is the first of three Maersk Line ships, each with capacity of approximately 6,400 TEUs, scheduled to rotate through Boston. MSC, which has provided direct service to the Port of Boston for more than 27 years, will operate an additional three ships of similar capacity. Each year, more than 1.5 million metric tons of cargo passes through Massport’s terminals in the Port of Boston, which provide the shipping facilities New England needs to compete in the global economy.