MSC and Maersk will add Suape, in Brazil's Northeast, to their shared US Gulf–East Coast South America service, with the first southbound call scheduled for 26 October 2026.

MSC markets the loop as Gulf to SAEC I; Maersk operates it under the UCLA name. The new Suape call sits between Cartagena and Santos on the southbound leg.

MSC Yamuna VI, on voyage 640S, will perform the first Suape call. The revised rotation then reads:

• Veracruz – Altamira – Houston – Cartagena (southbound)
• Suape – Santos – Itapoá – Paranaguá – Itajaí – Santos – Rio de Janeiro (northbound)
• Cartagena – Veracruz

What does the new call change for shippers?

The addition extends the service's coverage into Northeast Brazil, a region the carriers say the loop did not directly serve on this routing before. For shippers moving cargo between the US Gulf, Mexico and Brazil's northeastern states, Suape becomes a direct port call rather than a transshipment via Santos or Cartagena — at least on the southbound leg.

Maersk also said the revised rotation will support cargo moving to Manaus through connections with its inland and ocean transport network. That positions Suape as a relay point for Amazon-region flows, though the carriers have not detailed which connecting services or frequencies will carry that cargo.

What the announcement does not say

Neither carrier has disclosed capacity figures for the loop, vessel sizes deployed, or whether the extra call adds transit time to existing port pairs. Each additional port call typically adds several days to a rotation, and shippers moving Houston–Santos or Veracruz–Rio de Janeiro cargo will want to check revised schedules before committing to the service.

The announcement also leaves open whether Suape will gain a northbound direct call in future, or whether northbound cargo from the Northeast must still move via Santos or Cartagena. For now, the coverage gain is asymmetric.

The first call falls on 26 October 2026, giving shippers and forwarders on the US Gulf–Brazil trade roughly three months to adjust bookings and inland plans around the new rotation.