PortMiami celebrated the arrival of the MOL Majesty, the first neopanamax vessel call on the port after transiting the expanded Panama Canal, on Saturday July 9.

The MOL Majesty is part of the G6 Alliance Transpacific PA2 service, originating in Asia.

“A new big ship era is here and PortMiami and its partners are ready,” said PortMiami Director and CEO Juan M. Kuryla. “The completion of PortMiami’s deep dredge and Florida East Coast Railway’s on-dock intermodal rail projects cannot be overstated. PortMiami is now positioned as the most reliable, convenient and efficient global hub on the North American East Coast serving the world’s leading ocean carriers.”

“We were glad to be at the celebration in support of our partner, PortMiami,” said James R. Hertwig, President and CEO of Florida East Coast Railway. “FECR has invested in infrastructure and equipment to support multi-modal shipping and global trade into and out of south Florida, and can support neopanamax vessels such as the MOL Majesty. We offer customers a seamless transfer of goods from ship to our on-dock rail facility that allows fast access to 70 percent of the U.S. population, reaching the key southeast markets of Atlanta and Charlotte in two days.”

FECR re-established on-dock intermodal rail service at PortMiami, allowing import and export cargo to be loaded directly onto, or off of, awaiting trains, linking the port to 70 percent of the U.S population in four days or less. FECR can also facilitate the transloading of international freight into fewer domestic containers for inland moves, to markets such as Memphis, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Dallas.

Experts expect an increase of 10 percent in shipments to be rerouted through the now expanded Panama Canal to eastern seaboard ports like PortMiami. FECR expects to grow their share of container traffic transported following the expansion and shift in trade routes.

FECR is a 351-mile freight rail system located along the east coast of Florida. It is the exclusive rail provider for PortMiami, Port Everglades, and Port of Palm Beach and connects to the national railway system in Jacksonville.