SEACOR and Genesee & Wyoming Form Joint Venture to Own and Operate Rail Ferry Service, CG Railway, Between the U.S. and Mexico
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. and DARIEN, Conn., Sept. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SEACOR Holdings Inc. (SEACOR) (NYSE:CKH) and Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) (NYSE:GWR) today announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture to own and operate CG Railway, LLC (CGR), a subsidiary of SEACOR recently acquired through its acquisition of International Shipholding Corporation. Terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.
CGR operates a freight railroad providing four-day rail ferry service between the ports of Mobile, Alabama, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. The rail ferry presents a faster and more cost-effective alternative to the traditional land route between the southeast U.S. and southeast Mexico. The joint venture plans to immediately invest in the existing rail ferry vessels to enhance service reliability.
Established in 2001, the ferry service currently transports approximately 10,000 annual carloads of commodities such as chemicals & plastics, fructose & refined sugar, steel and pulp & paper.
The CGR business is comprised of:
- a U.S. Class III freight railroad that connects in Mobile with G&W’s Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway (AGR), BNSF (via AGR), Canadian National (CN), CSX, Kansas City Southern (via CN) and Norfolk Southern and connects in Coatzacoalcos with Ferrosur, the railroad serving central and southern Mexico;
- two 585’ roll-on/roll-off rail ferries, each with the capacity to transport approximately 115 railcars per voyage;
- Long-term agreements to operate purpose-built rail ferry terminals in the ports of Mobile and Coatzacoalcos;
- a 10,000-square-foot, food-grade, truck-to-rail transload facility and a railcar repair shop both located in Mobile.
“We are committed to improve the rail ferry’s on-time performance by leveraging SEACOR’s expertise in marine operations,” says CGR Senior Vice President Kevin Wild. “Combining reliable service with the cost efficiency of short sea shipping and the 50% shorter transit time versus land routes, we create a compelling alternative for customers moving goods between the eastern U.S. and Canada to and from central and southern Mexico.”
“CGR creates a natural extension of our rail services to reach the rapidly growing market in central and southern Mexico,” says G&W Chief Commercial Officer Michael Miller. “We look forward to working with Ferrosur and Ferromex to expand the current customer base. Since G&W’s short line railroads maintain close commercial relationships with customers and connecting Class I railroads across the southeastern U.S., we also look forward to offering a more direct option for these shippers and others east of the Mississippi to reach central and southern Mexico.”
About Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
G&W owns or leases 122 freight railroads worldwide that are organized in 10 operating regions with approximately 8,000 employees and 3,000 customers.
- G&W’s eight North American regions serve 41 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces and include 115 short line and regional freight railroads with more than 13,000 track-miles.
- G&W’s Australia Region provides rail freight services in New South Wales, including in the Hunter Valley coal supply chain, the Northern Territory and South Australia, and operates the 1,400-mile Tarcoola-to-Darwin rail line. The Australia Region is 51.1% owned by G&W and 48.9% owned by a consortium of funds and clients managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
- G&W’s U.K./Europe Region is led by Freightliner, the U.K.’s largest rail maritime intermodal operator and second-largest rail freight company. Operations also include heavy-haul in Poland and Germany, intermodal services connecting Northern European seaports with key industrial regions in Germany, and regional rail services in the Netherlands and Belgium.
G&W subsidiaries provide rail service at more than 40 major ports in North America, Australia and Europe and perform contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers.
About SEACOR Holdings Inc.
SEACOR Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CKH) headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is a diversified holding company principally focused on domestic and international transportation, logistics, and risk management consultancy.
- Through its shipping services businesses, SEACOR owns marine equipment operating coastwise in the U.S. transporting bulk liquids and dry cargo; operates vessels that support the movement of U.S. food aid and military cargo globally; and offers customers turnkey logistics solutions to move goods and materials from Florida into the Caribbean on a fleet of shallow draft vessels. SEACOR’s tug fleet assists vessels docking in U.S. ports and the Caribbean and provides offshore towing services.
- SEACOR’s inland river services businesses own and operate a fleet of domestic dry cargo barges, towboats, and infrastructure throughout the Mississippi River System and offers customers integrated services such as fleeting, storage, throughput, and elevation. SEACOR also provides inland river services in Latin America.
- CLEANCOR, a SEACOR subsidiary, distributes alternative energy solutions to end-customers looking to adopt fuels that have a favorable environmental footprint and the potential to economically displace legacy petroleum-based fuels.
- SEACOR’s consulting business, Witt O’Brien’s, offers a full range of crisis and emergency management solutions to help private and public organizations prepare, respond, and recover before and after catastrophic events. This includes unrivalled experience recovering from manmade and natural disasters including Hurricanes Harvey, Katrina, Rita, Ike, and the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Genesee & Wyoming's and SEACOR’s businesses which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in each company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
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SOURCE Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and SEACOR Holdings Inc.
CONTACT: Molly Hottinger, SEACOR Investor Relations (954) 627-5278 mhottinger@ckor.com Michael Williams, G&W Corporate Communications (203) 202-8900 mwilliams@gwrr.com
Source: SEACOR HOLDINGS INC.