Maersk Line - Elly Maersk

Danish shipping line Maersk Line has announced the launch of ECUMED, a weekly liner service connecting Ecuador directly with Spain, Turkey and the Black Sea.

According to the group, ECUMED will provide the fastest transit time in the market along with the best in class reefer facilities and schedule reliability, connecting most Mediterranean ports with Latin America.

'Investment in the new ECUMED service has been motivated by customers demand for reliable, fast and high quality refrigerated transportation of fruits, especially bananas, from Ecuador to the Mediterranean and Black Sea,' said Anders Koksbang, vice-president of Maersk Line.

'Compared with other services in the market this will be a direct service without transshipment, ensuring high reliability for our customers and thus a higher safety and quality of the fruit to be delivered to the end consumer in Europe/Russia,' he added.

The port rotation for the service will be Guayaquil, Balboa, Manzanillo, Algeciras, Izmit Korfezi, Ambarli, Novorosiysk, Odessa, Ambarli, Izmit Korfezi, Algeciras, Balboa and Guayaquil.

The first westbound call for the service for ECUMED is from Algeciras, Spain on 25 September with NedLloyd Juliana, while the first eastbound callfor the service is from Guayaquil, Ecuador on 4 October with Maersk Nottingham.