Norway’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has added a monthly ocean service call to the port of Antofagasta in Chile, as part of its service along South America’s West Coast.
Starting this month, the latest service will add to WWL’s current calls at the ports of Guayaquil in Ecuador and Callao in Peru. The company said that the main cargo transported will be primarily a mix of heavy equipment and breakbulk.
“Due to major infrastructure developments and construction expansion, as well as mining and energy projects, the demand for equipment to support improvements in western South America is undergoing significant growth,” said Rich Heintzelman, executive vice president and head of Commercial for Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Americas. “WWL is excited to offer a monthly service to Chile in order to meet these growing demands,” he added.
Among some of the major projects underway in Chile stimulating this demand is the Escondida copper mine in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
Elsewhere in South America, WWL has resumed its service to the port of Zarate in Argentina. The logistics provider was forced to suspend services there at the end of May because of severe congestion that had prevented it from being able to unload cargo.
During May there were approximately 17,000 vehicles packed into the 230,000-square metre main storage area awaiting clearance and seven vessels waiting to unload 10,000-15,000 more cars.
Previous issues with delays in customs processing as well as vehicle processing at the port have been resolved according to WWL and services to the port have been resumed as per normal schedule.
Zarate is a very busy port with almost every manufacturer trading in Argentina using the terminal.
