Rio Brasil Terminal (RBT), an International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) business at the Port of Rio de Janeiro, has handled COSCO Shipping Lines’ Europe – East Coast of South America (ESE2) service’s debut call.

On 15 September, the vessel Xin Nan Tong launched the ESE2 service at RBT.

The new route connects the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais to Europe, providing consumers with a weekly connection and relatively inexpensive transit times from South America’s East Coast to Europe.

The ESE2 service is intended to target refrigerated goods from South America as well as European consuming countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The ESE2 service covers the following port rotation:

Rotterdam (Netherlands) – London Gateway (UK) – Hamburg (Germany) – Antwerp (Belgium) – Lisbon (Portugal) – Algeciras (Spain) – Santos (Brazil) – Paranagua (Brazil) – Montevideo (Uruguay) – Buenos Aires (Argentina) – Itapoa (Brazil) – Paranagua – Santos – Rio De Janeiro (Brazil) – Algeciras – Rotterdam, with an expected total duration of nine weeks.

The initial fleet will have 4,000-5,000 TEU ships, according to ICTSI.

Anders Kjeldsen, ICTSI Senior Vice President and Regional Head for Latin America, witnessed the inauguration of the service together with Heyue Ge, COSCO Shipping Lines Deputy General Manager.

They were accompanied by RBT’s commercial partners, local government authorities, and supply chain stakeholder groups.

RBT and COSCO inked a preliminary contract for the management of CLIA Pouso Alegre, a logistics corridor in Minas Gerais that includes empty container yards and bonded warehouses, at the same time.

In September, Contecon Guayaquil S.A. (CGSA), ICTSI’s Ecuadorian business unit, handled 135 million tonnes of cargo since its inception at the Port of Guayaquil.