Toyota Argentina taps MOL for auto transport services

The Japanese ocean carrier has restructured its existing U.S. East Coast to West Coast South America loop, bypassing the Panama Canal in favor of a routing through the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America.    Toyota Argentina S.A. (TASA) has tapped Japanese ocean carrier Mistui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) to provide automobile transport services in South and Central America, according to a statement from MOL.
   Under the agreement, MOL will transport assembled vehicles manufactured at Buenos Aires-based TASA’s Zarate, Argentina facility to ports on the West Coast of South America and the West Coast of Central America.
   MOL said that with the acquisition of the TASA contract, it has restructured its existing U.S. East Coast to West Coast South America loop, bypassing the Panama Canal in favor of a routing through the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America.
   “The revised service allows MOL to respond swiftly to changes in demand for transport of completed vehicles in this region, with direct service from East Coast South America to West Coast South America and West Coast Central America,” the carrier added.
   MOL and TASA, along with government officials and representatives from the Zarate terminal operator and stevedoring company, held a joint ceremony on Aug. 10 at the Port of Zarate to mark the first shipment on the newly inaugurated route.
   “MOL’s new services will play a key role in meeting robust demand for transport of completed vehicles in this region based on the company’s know-how and expertise accumulated in more than 50 years of car carrier operation,” the company said.