ECSA service shifting to Port Everglades
Two joint services between the U.S. East Coast and the East Coast of South America on Maersk Line vessels will be combined into a single weekly service in October, with a shift in the Florida port call from Miami to Port Everglades.
The changes affect the services of Maersk and space charter carriers Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), APL, and CMA CGM. Each of the carriers market the services under different names. Maersk calls the existing services NASA 1 and NASA 2, while MOL markets them as ALE and AXE.
NASA 1 has been calling Miami, then Santos, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Itajai, Santos, Kingston and back to New York/New Jersey. NASA 2 has been sailing from Miami to Paranagua, Sao Francisco do Sul, Santos, Sepetiba, Salvador, Suape, and back to Miami.
The new combined service, which starts October 25, will have a final U.S. call at Port Everglades, calling Santos, Rio Grande, Itajai, Santos, Salvador, Suape, Kingston and retuning to New York/New Jersey. The southbound voyages call several ports from New York/New Jersey to Savannah before making the Florida call.
The last southbound sailing from Miami will be September 25.
Member carriers say that with the combined service there will be fewer port calls, meaning schedule reliability should improve because there will be more 'buffer' time and less of a chance for delays within a single loop.