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Last week, ocean carrier APL announced it purchased land in Joliet, Ill., for a new intermodal container terminal.

APL acquired the 43-acre site in CenterPoint Intermodal Center from CenterPoint Properties. Scheduled for completion by December 2011, the terminal will be the carrier’s largest U.S. container facility, functioning as the “Chicago Global Gateway” to serve customers in Chicago and surrounding areas, APL officials said in a prepared statement. The terminal will feature automated gate technology, an equipment maintenance facility and reefer servicing capabilities, and house APL’s regional operations team.

The new facility will be “advantageously located” near BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad intermodal terminals, as well as numerous customer warehouses and distribution centers, APL officials said. The new terminal eventually will replace APL's existing Chicago container facility, which opened in 1985.

“APL has a strong transcontinental intermodal network in the U.S. and we want to build on that strength,” said APL Americas President Gene Seroka.