Their previous process was load container on truck, drive to major port, unload container from truck, load container onto a ship. The plant apparently is a small port, so the new process is load container on ship, sail ship to major port, unload container from ship, load container onto another ship. I don't see why loading and unloading a ship would be more onerous than loading and unloading a bunch of trucks. So if the ship uses less fuel than a bunch of trucks, it's a win. Why not do it?