CP SHIPS CARRIERS END DIRECT U.S. CALLS ON SOUTH AMERICA LINK

CP SHIPS CARRIERS END DIRECT U.S. CALLS ON SOUTH AMERICA LINK    CP Ships subsidiaries Italia di Navigazione, Lykes Lines and TMM Lines have ended direct calls at U.S. ports on their joint “U.S. Gulf Andes” service.
   The vessels on this service to the West Coast of South America will now turn around on the North Coast of South America, instead of proceeding to the Gulf and East coasts of the U.S. The service had previously called at Houston, New Orleans and Miami in the U.S. The vessel “TMM Chiapas” made the final departure from Miami on Feb. 16.
   It was not clear at the time of writing whether CP Ships would offer a transshipment service to and from the U.S. to replace the direct service.
   Calls at Puerto Limon, Puerto Cortes, Maracaibo, Balboa, Ilo and Barranquilla have also been dropped from the port rotation of the service.
   The revised service will now use two ships of around 1,500 TEUs with a sailing frequency of 11 days and call Cartagena, Colombia; Cristobal, Panama; Guayaquil; Callao; Valparaiso; Lirquen; Callao and Cartagena