en.Wedoany.com Reported - Maersk will launch its "West Coast Shuttle" service on the west coast of Latin America, connecting Mexico, Panama, and Ecuador with an integrated three-vessel network.

The Danish shipping company said the service is an expansion of the previous single-vessel Balboa-Posorja shuttle. On September 20, the 2,500 teu "AS Palina" will make its maiden voyage from Ecuador's Posorja port, with a port rotation of Posorja-Balboa-Lázaro Cárdenas-Manzanillo (Mexico).

The launch of the new service is expected to coincide with the scheduled end of the current version of Maersk's standalone Asia-Latin America AC1 service. AC1 currently deploys eight vessels with an average capacity of 4,000 teu, calling at Ningbo-Busan-Lázaro Cárdenas-Buenaventura-Posorja; according to Xeneta's eeSea liner database, the service will drop Posorja, with a new rotation of Ningbo-Yokohama-Manzanillo-Lázaro Cárdenas-Buenaventura-Balboa.

Maersk said this week that Posorja will subsequently be served by the West Coast Shuttle, with containers transshipped via Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas, a continuation of its Gemini strategy of operating shuttle services from hub ports. In March, APM Terminals opened the Phase 2 expansion of its terminal in Lázaro Cárdenas and announced the start of Phase 3 construction.

Additionally, Maersk's Central America-North America WCCA2 service will also be adjusted during the same period, on which Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) charters space. The service currently calls at Lázaro Cárdenas and Manzanillo, followed by Long Beach and Hueneme in the United States. According to eeSea data, the WCCA2 service's current five vessels with an average capacity of 3,150 teu will be replaced by four vessels with an average capacity of 3,300 teu, dropping Manzanillo and adding Corinto, Nicaragua. The "AS Palina" was previously deployed on the WCCA2 service.