Argentine carrier, Maruba S.C.A., a new member of the shipping consortium, AMPAC, has introduced trans-Pacific service consisting of five vessels, averaging 1,100 TEU capacity. The service, according to Jorge Morales, Maruba's Trade Manager, "is part of a reconfiguration of strings that currently serve the U.S. and Latin America. The new loop, named FEXAM, will make direct calls at Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Busan and Long Beach, proceeding to the West Coast of Central America and South America." Morales added, "These changes result in a return to weekly fixed sailings from Long Beach, which were temporarily interrupted late last year by the other (AMPAC) loop."
The 1,500 TEU Maruba Trader made its inaugural call at Long Beach's International Transportation Terminal (ITS) in early June.
The AMPAC consortium is also comprised of Americana Ships and Columbus Line, a subsidiary of Hamburg Sud, which is assigning two containerships, the 1,500 TEU Columbus Mexico and Columbus Pacific, to work in tandem with the Maruba Trader.
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