MOL Upgrades Panama-Brazil Feeder Service

MOL is doubling the capacity of its CX1 feeder service running between Panama and Manaus, the Brazilian manufacturing center 800 miles up the Amazon River.

The Japanese carrier said it will deploy four ships with capacities of 1,700 20-foot equivalent container units apiece, replacing ships that have less than 1,000 TEUs of capacity.

The expanded feeder capacity will enable MOL to accommodate additional peak season demand for products bound for or coming from Manaus and transshipped at the Manzanillo International Terminal in Colon, Panama, the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.

The upgraded loop, which will maintain the same calling ports and transit times as the existing service, will start with the departure of the MOL Mando from Colon on Aug. 12. The port rotation is now and will be: Panama, Manaus, Vila do Conde and back to Manaus.

-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.