Port of Itapoá Added to Maersk’s Europe Service as Dredging Expansion Nears Completion

The SC Itapoá Port was included in the rotation of Maersk’s NEOSAMBA service, which connects the Santa Catarina terminal directly to the largest ports in Europe: Southampton, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Antwerp. In the national scenario, the SC Port will also gain the ALCT1 service from Aliança Navegação, scheduled to start in June, connecting Itapoá to Manaus in 13 days. According to information from the NSC portal, in 2025, the terminal handled 298 thousand TEUs in cabotage, a growth of 32%, and the dredging work that will allow receiving ships up to 366 meters has already reached 70% completion.

The SC Itapoá Port, on the northern coast of Santa Catarina, has just secured a strategic position in global maritime trade by being included in one of the main navigation routes between South America and Northern Europe. The NEOSAMBA service, operated by Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, now calls at the Santa Catarina terminal in a rotation that includes Southampton in the UK, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg and Bremerhaven in Germany, Antwerp in Belgium, and Tangier in Morocco. The inclusion of the SC Port in the route strengthens the terminal’s competitiveness, which already operates two other services to Europe via the Mediterranean: the Bossa Nova/Sirius 1, from Maersk and CMA CGM, and the WMED/MSE, from MSC and Hapag-Lloyd.

In the domestic scenario, the SC Port gains reinforcement with the ALCT1 service from Aliança Navegação e Logística, which will connect Itapoá to Manaus with a transit time of approximately 13 days. Operations are expected to start in June, with two weekly calls at the terminal, expanding the logistical capacity for industrial, electronic, and refrigerated products between the South and North regions of the country. The terminal, a leader in cabotage in Southern Brazil, also maintains the BRACO service, operated by Mercosul Line and CMA CGM, which already connects Manaus to ports on the Brazilian coast.

The connection with the European market is not new for Porto de SC Itapoá, but the numbers show that the relationship is deepening. In 2025, imports from the European Union accounted for 19% of all cargo imported by the terminal, totaling approximately 285 thousand TEUs. Of the total imported food and beverages that passed through Porto de SC, 76% originated from the European Union, a proportion that demonstrates the terminal’s dependence on trade with the continent.

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