Crowley re-starts Gulfport service

Updated 9:14 a.m. ET, Wed Sep 21, 2005

Crowley (schedules) announced today that it will resume its liner services to and from Gulfport, Miss., as of Oct. 1.

The port suffered severe damage from Hurricane Katrina.

The service will commence with the northbound sailing of the ro-ro vessel Gothica, which will bring in cargo from Central American ports including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

That vessel will make the turn -- discharging import cargo and loading export cargo -- the same day and
sail to the northern zone of Central America. That ship will be followed by the Express on Oct. 4. Thereafter, Crowley will continue to provide service over Gulfport to and from Central America every Saturday and Tuesday until the company can resume its full schedule of three, weekly, fixed-day sailings.

Crowley's service in the Gulf region had to be suspended Aug. 29 following Katrina. The company temporarily re-routed Gulf shipments over its Port Everglades terminal in South Florida.

Crowley said it has had an incident management team in place in Gulfport shortly after the storm. In the days and weeks that followed, the company brought in relief supplies for employees and local citizens, and a recreational vehicle which served as a command post. Last week, the terminal was cleared of debris and an office trailer was brought in and placed on site. Employees are back on the job and working with local authorities to prepare the port and surrounding areas for the resumption of commercial activity.