APM Terminals Suape Adds Maersk and MSC's UCLA Service to Its Network
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APM Terminals Suape, in Pernambuco, will expand its international connectivity by joining the shipping route of the UCLA service, operated by carriers Maersk and MSC. The terminal will become the first port in Brazil's Northeast to receive this call, which will have weekly frequency and whose first arrival is scheduled for Sunday, November 1, with the vessel MSC Yamuna VI.
Connections and transit times
The route links Suape with strategic Mexican ports such as Veracruz and Altamira, with Houston in the United States, with Cartagena in Colombia, and with terminals in southern and southeastern Brazil such as Santos, Itapoá, Paranaguá and Itajaí. According to data released by APM Terminals, estimated transit times are 26 days to Veracruz, 24 days to Altamira, 21 days to Houston and 11 days to Cartagena.
A recently opened, fully electrified terminal
Suape's inclusion in the service comes just months after APM Terminals began operations at the port complex in Pernambuco. The terminal, inaugurated in 2026 on an area formerly occupied by the Estaleiro Atlântico Sul shipyard, received investments exceeding R$2,000 million and is presented by the company as the first 100% electrified container terminal in Latin America. According to Transporte Moderno, the facility has an initial capacity of 400,000 TEUs per year and began commercial operations in September with the arrival of the vessel Maersk Ganges, as part of the ALCT2 feeder service.
Official statements
Carolina Brown, commercial director of APM Terminals Pecém and Suape, noted that Suape's inclusion on the route represents an improvement in logistics efficiency for Pernambuco and the entire Northeast region by creating direct alternatives with major consumption and production centers across the continent. Daniel Rose, superintendent director of APM Terminals Pecém and Suape, added that the new route aims to consolidate Suape as a regional hub with increasingly broad connections. Pernambuco's governor, Raquel Lyra, highlighted that the port recorded 21.6% growth in recent months and that she expects to close 2026 with record results, while Suape's president, Armando Monteiro Bisneto, linked the arrival of the new service to dredging works and the modernization of port infrastructure.
Dispute with Tecon Suape
The new route adds to growing commercial tension between APM Terminals and the Philippine company ICTSI, operator of Tecon Suape since 2001. According to Transporte Moderno, the dispute intensified after Maersk decided to shift its operations to its own group's terminal, and after ICTSI was notified of MSC's intention to also leave Tecon Suape. Tecon Suape's CEO, Thomas Lima, had indicated that the terminal handled around 720,000 TEUs in 2025 and that volumes could drop to roughly 450,000 TEUs per year once Maersk's cargo departs, below the estimated operational break-even point of 550,000 TEUs. ICTSI brought the case before Cade, Antaq and the TCU to challenge the effects of vertical integration between carriers and port operators on cargo distribution within the complex.
Expected cargo
Among the main cargoes expected to move through the new service are products classified under NCM codes 39 and 40, mainly linked to the automotive industry, and NCM 29, corresponding to organic chemical products. Transporte Moderno added that movement of plastics, rubber and derivatives used by various industrial segments that depend on the international supply of raw materials and components is also expected.
