Maersk speeds up WCCA, drops Puerto Caldera

   After nearly six months on a five-week rotation, ocean carrier Maersk Line has increased the speed of its weekly west coast North America-to-Central America WCCA service, while dropping a call at Puerto Caldera, Cost Rica.
   Roundtrip voyage time on the WCCA has decreased from 35 days to 28 days, and transit times southbound from North America have improved by about seven days, now taking 11 days from Los Angeles to Balboa, Panama. 
   The revised rotation of WCCA is Los Angeles, Ensenada, Manzanillo (Mexico), Lazaro Cardenas, Puerto Quetzal, Acajutla, Balboa, Corinto, Acajutla, Puerto Quetzal, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo (Mexico), and Los Angeles. The service is currently operated by four Maersk vessels with an average capacity of 2,331 TEUs. Evergreen line, which began a slot charter agreement with Maersk on the service back in May, continues to purchase slots on the loop, though only between Manzanillo, Puerto Quetzal, Acajutla, and Corinto. 
   Maersk and Evergreen have no other dedicated services between the west coast of North America and Central America. Maersk’s AC2, AC3, and TP7 loops, along with Evergreen’s NUE, however, connect the two regions en route to Asia, the east coast of North America, and South America’s west coast. – ComPair Data, Ben Meyer