A new addition to its shipping fleet will make business easier for Weyerhaeuser and other companies who export products between Canada and the United States. By offering a new and competitive way to transport cargo by sea, Weyerhaeuser says it is providing an alternative to costly and often unreliable ground transportation.

Westwood Shipping, the company’s wholly-owned commercial marine shipping subsidiary, will operate the newly acquired Westwood Pomona between ports in British Columbia and Long Beach, CA, carrying cargo for Weyerhaeuser and other companies.

Westwood Pomona is a 10,200-gt freight side loader (also known as a “sto-ro”). Built in 1985, the vessel was previously named the Kent Loyalist, owned by the Finnish carrier Birka Cargo. The vessel was renamed after Weyerhaeuser’s first ship, the SS Pomona, purchased in 1923 to transport wood products between North American ports.

The original ship sailed for Weyerhaeuser for 23 years, including service as a military transport in World War II. The Westwood Pomona joins seven other ships in the Westwood Shipping fleet. It has been outfitted to transport a wide variety of commodities
and starts service in April.

Westwood Shipping Line is an independent ocean carrier in the transpacific trade. Its trans-pacific routes use multipurpose vessels to link Longview and Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, BC, with Japan, Korea and China. Westwood makes 52 trans-pacific round-trip voyages annually, serving customers in more than 20 ports. www.weyerhaeuser.com. PI