The Port of Houston, already a major player in the Latin America trade arena, will be included in a new ro/ro service to the West Coast of South America. NYK will launch on July 24. The "NYK Chile Express" offers direct service from the port authority’s Turning Basin Terminal to Ecuador, Chile and Peru, countries that already rank among the port’s top 15 trading partners. The port sequence will be: Baltimore; Jacksonville; Houston; Veracruz, Mexico; Manzanillo, Panama; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Callao, Peru; Iquique, Chile; and San Antonio, Chile.

Additionally, Mediterranean Shipping Company in April began direct container service between Houston’s Bayport Container Terminal and Brazil. The weekly service employs seven ships averaging 2,700 TEUs in capacity on a seven-week rotation that includes Houston; Cristobal, Panama; Manaus, Brazil; Navegantes, Brazil; Santos, Brazil; Pecém, Brazil; Vila do Conde, Brazil; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Cristobal and Houston. Brazil in 2012 was Houston’s second leading container cargo trading partner, after China, with throughput totaling 99,604 TEUs.