US port of Virginia reported that Israeli carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services started offering a bill of lading to Port of Richmond for both importers and exporters.

Port of Richmond is located 95 miles (152.9 km) inland on Virginia's James River. Zim North America president Lea Bogatch-Genossar noted that "Zim is using the Port of Virginia to provide service to the furniture and finished product manufacturers from Asia and the regional refrigerated freight market and paper mills needs in export to both Atlantic and Pacific trades."

John Reinhart, CEO of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a statement that any shipper using ZIM to transport cargo to and from Richmond will have access to the 180 ports served by the company.

This will substantially boost the service to Port of Richmond while enhancing the importance of the barge service that connects the ports of Virginia and Richmond. The 64 Express container- on-barge, which is owned and operated by James River Barge Line LLC, now offers three weekly roundtrip container-on-barge services between Port of Virginia’s Norfolk International Terminals and APM Terminals Portsmouth and the Port of Richmond.

This service results in congestion mitigation and lower fuel consumption and emissions levels. The port estimates the barge service accounts for about 12,000 fewer truck trips on I-64 on annual average.