Aliana and Docenave enhance mercosur/cabotage service

Aliana Navegao & Logstica Ltda. and Navegao Vale do Rio Doce S.A (Docenave) have announced the formation of a new joint service to cover the Mercosur and Cabotage trades linking Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The combined service will deploy seven vessels in two slings on a weekly basis, starting October 29th.

Five vessels with a 35-day rotation will call the ports of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, So Francisco do Sul, Paranagua, Santos, Sepetiba, Salvador, Suape, Fortaleza, and Manaus, then return calling the ports of Itaqui/Fortaleza (alternating), Suape, Salvador, Sepetiba, Santos, So Francisco do Sul and Buenos Aires. Asunscion, Paraguay will be served via Buenos Aires.

Two vessels with a 14-day rotation will call the ports of Rio Grande, So Francisco do Sul Santos, Suape, Maceio, then return calling the ports of Santos, and Rio Grande.

Officials said the move to weekly sailings meets a long-standing demand of the cabotage marketplace. The joint service will also expand the space available to shippers and the range of port coverage which can now be provided.

The establishment of a more frequent direct connection between Manaus and Argentina and Uruguay is also expected to help the Manaus Industrial district meet its export goals.

Finally, they stated, the expanded reach and frequency of the service should now help make the concept of feeder service a reality for ports big and small along Brazil’s coastline.