FRUIT shippers are to benefit from a new seasonal call being added at the Port of Pecem in northern Brazil by Swiss carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) to its NWC-SAEC I service between the east coast of South America and North Europe later this year.
The call will be added from August to February, which MSC said is peak fruit export season.
The Geneva-based carrier said the seasonal call at Pecem will start in week 32 of 2017, at the beginning of August, and will stop during week five of 2018, at the end of January.
The port call "will be of particular interest for exporters of melons," MSC said. "Main destinations for this commodity, and other fruit exported on this route are Rotterdam and other ports in North Europe."
In the first 11 months of 2016, Pecem exported 184,751 tonnes of fruit, American Shipper reported.
Ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting shows the NWC-SAEC I currently operates with seven ships averaging 5,689 TEU.
Pecem will be the final port of call on MSC's loop before ships in the rotation sail to Europe. With the addition of the new call, the revised rotation will become: Pecem, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Sines, Rio de Janiero, Santos, Paranagua, Navegrantes, Santos, Rio de Janiero, Salvador and Pecem.
