Ocean Network Express (ONE) will be adding the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) to its East Coast 2 (EC2) container service, directly connecting the port of Jacksonville with five ports in Asia beginning in February 2025.

The weekly service will utilize a fleet of 13,500 TEU (container) vessels, all operated by ONE.

JAXPORT said the vessels will call the newly modernized SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at the port's Blount Island Marine Terminal, which features a 47-foot deepwater shipping channel. SSA Atlantic will provide stevedoring services.

The service's port rotation will be Xiamen, Yantian, Ningbo, and Shanghai in China; Busan, South Korea; Manzanillo, Panama; Savannah; Charleston; Jacksonville; Manzanillo; Busan; and back to Xiamen.

"We are pleased to add Jacksonville, Florida, as an enhancement to our East Coast 2 (EC2) service," ONE North America said.

"By adding JAXPORT to our rotation, we are strengthening our connections between East Asia and North America while enhancing the options available to our customers."

Retail products, food and beverages, electronics, and intermediate goods and supplies are expected to be common commodities in the service.

"Anchored by harbour deepening, JAXPORT and our port partners have made significant investments in modernizing container handling capabilities at Blount Island," said CEO Eric Green.

"These investments continue to attract global shippers, and the jobs and economic impact their cargo supports, to Jacksonville."

The EC2 is ONE's third service at JAXPORT.

The shipping line also offers container service from JAXPORT to destinations in the Indian Subcontinent through the West India North America (WIN) service, as well as Southeast Asia and Canada through THE Alliance's EC5 rotation – which will change its name to EC3 in February 2025.

JAXPORT noted that the US$72 million project to expand and modernize the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at JAXPORT's Blount Island terminal is expected to be completed in 2025.

The facility features 97 acres of newly paved asphalt to accommodate taller stacks of loaded containers, and it can be expanded to 120 acres as needed.

The facility will be able to accommodate more than 600,000 TEUs annually, a 150% increase over its current throughput.