Maersk Launches Russia-South America Service

Maersk Line launched the first direct deep sea liner service between Russia and South America.

The Danish ocean carrier's ECUBEX service will offer a weekly connection between St. Petersburg and Guayaquil, Ecuador.

"The service will be the first direct liner route between the two countries and will stand out as a unique solution given the short transport time," Maersk Line said.

"Investment in the service has been motivated by client demand for reliable and fast refrigerated transportation of fruits, especially bananas, from Ecuador to the Russian market," Maersk said.

The ECUBEX service will call at Guayaquil, Balboa, Rotterdam, St. Petersburg (PLP and FEC terminals), Bremerhaven, Manzanillo, Balboa and Guayaquil.

The service will deploy six newly-built containerships with 2,500 20-foot equivalent units capacity and 600 reefer plugs.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.