July 24 - According to reports in the international media, Crowley Maritime Corporation is in talks to acquire Horizon Lines' facilities at the San Juan port, as well as its ships and routes to and from Puerto Rico.
Reports state that the talks are part of Horizon's plans to sell all three of its Jones Act routes - San Juan, Alaska and Hawaii - to different buyers for each of these markets.
Industry commentators have said that if Crowley bought Horizon's port facilities, it would not need to make improvements to its port facilities to receive its two new ships, El Coquí and El Taíno, but would just move over to Horizon's facilities at the port.
However in an official statement, Crowley said that its plans "have not changed".
"We are building two new, LNG-powered con-ro ships at VT Halter Marine, and we are talking with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority about making improvements to our existing Isla Grande terminal in Puerto Rico to accommodate those ships when they are delivered and put into service in 2017," said Crowley.
