Arizona inland port inaugurates international container shipments

Local officials gathered on May 31 to mark the ceremonial arrival of the first international ocean container at the Port of Tucson, Ariz. The container traveled to Tucson from China in 20 days.

The inland port, which has been handling domestic containers since 2004, is trying to grow trade and business relationships globally. Port leaders have been working with Union Pacific Railroad officials to offer international service for containers transported on trains running to and from California.

The ability to ship and receive international containers "is going to be great for southern Arizona and Mexico," said Alan Levin, who founded the port, in a press release.

The Tucson facility is efficient for freight management since companies no longer will have to unload intermodal cargo at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., and transport the containers to Tucson, local officials said. Instead, Nogales now can serve as the gateway to Mexico from Tucson, they said.