Evergreen Marine has joined the Asia-West Coast South America 6 service (WSA6) through a slot charter agreement, strengthening its Asia-Latin America links at a time of sharp capacity growth on the trade, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.

MDS Transmodal said direct service capacity on the Far East-Latin America route rose 46 per cent between January 2025 and 2026, after three years of stability. Total deployed capacity jumped to 4,112,888 TEU from 2,812,495 TEU a year earlier.

Consultant Antonella Teodoro attributed the increase to three new services launched in 2025: MSC's Alpaca, CMA CGM with Maersk on SAES3/ASAS2, and HMM with ONE on FL2/SX2. MSC's Alpaca service began last September with the 4,600-TEU MSC Lome V.

Data from eeSea also showed a 21 per cent rise in actual deployed capacity to 6.5 million TEU last year from 5.4 million TEU in 2024. The figures exclude services with intermediate calls in markets such as the US, Middle East and Indian sub-continent.

Evergreen's entry comes as freight rates continue to fall. Shanghai Shipping Exchange data showed spot rates from Shanghai to Santos at US$1,195 per TEU, the lowest since January 2023. Rates to Manzanillo dropped to $1,001 per TEU, the lowest in two years.

The WSA6 service is operated by Yang Ming Marine Transport, Wan Hai Lines and Pacific International Lines. Evergreen said its slot charter will start with the 8,533-TEU Kota Manzanillo departing Ensenada on February 21 for a 56-day transit to Shanghai.

Other ships on the route, including YM Fountain and YM Success, have nominal capacities of 5,560 TEU. The rotation covers Ningbo, Shanghai and Qingdao in China; Pusan in South Korea; Ensenada, Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico; Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala; Buenaventura in Colombia; Callao in Peru; San Antonio in Chile; and back to Ningbo.

The WSA6 is Evergreen's sixth Asia-South America service and its third linking the West Coast of South America.