Suape to be added to the maritime route between the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of South America
Starting October 26, the Port of Suape will join the southbound rotation of the Gulf to Saec I service, commercially operated by MSC and Maersk, expanding maritime connections with Brazil's Northeast.
MSC and Maersk announced a change to the maritime service connecting ports in Mexico, the United States, the Caribbean, and the east coast of South America. The change provides for the inclusion of the Port of Suape, in Pernambuco, in the southbound rotation between Cartagena, Colombia, and Santos, Brazil.
The new call begins on October 26, 2026. The first ship scheduled to serve Suape is the MSC Yamuna VI, identified by Maersk as inaugural voyage 640S.
With the change, the service marketed by MSC as Gulf to Saec I and identified by Maersk as UCLA will have the following sequence of calls: Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, Cartagena, Suape, Santos, Itapoá, Paranaguá, Itajaí, a second call at Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, and return to Veracruz.
The inclusion of the Pernambuco terminal expands maritime transport options for cargo originating in or bound for Brazil's Northeast. According to the information released, the change also offers connection options for goods bound for Manaus through the integration of maritime transport with Maersk's inland logistics solutions.
The service operates with eight container ships, with an approximate average capacity of 5,300 TEUs per vessel, according to information cited by one of the sources. The companies did not report transit times or the additional cargo volumes expected from the change.