About
West Coast Industrial Express
West Coast Industrial Express, LLC (WCIE) is a joint service operated by Intermarine and Associated Transport Line (ATL) to provide breakbulk and container service between the U.S. Gulf and the West Coast of South America.
With the combined strengths of Intermarine and ATL, WCIE offers two sailings per month from Houston to Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Callao and Matarani. Other load and discharge ports such as New Orleans, Tampico, Veracruz, Manta, Salaverry, Paita, Pisco and the Chilean ports of Arica, Antofagasta, Valparaiso and/or San Antonio, are called on inducement. Both Southbound and Northbound service are maintained.
Voyages are structured utilizing a regular fleet of modern multipurpose vessels sailing Houston twice monthly, thereby providing frequent and reliable service for project, heavy-lift, and containerized cargo. The modern tonnage in the service is supplemented as necessary by extra-chartered tonnage when cargo volumes demand. Service continuity is also supported as needed from Intermarine’s Americas fleet of about 30 vessels, most of which were built in recent years. These vessels have excellent multipurpose characteristics including seven with lifting capacity of 500 metric tons.
Commercially the new service brings together ATL’s broad experience and strong following in this trade with Intermarine’s excellent reputation for service throughout South America and the Caribbean. It also capitalizes on the experience of West Coast Express partner, Navicon, which for many years has concentrated on the Ecuadorian market.
Operationally, the line has chosen Industrial Terminals as the loading facility at Houston. The service provides a greater sailing frequency, utilizes more modern vessels and has available a much broader base of equipment and human resources to maintain reliability. The service also benefits from strong technical management provided by Intermarine and ATL.
WCIE is commercially represented by Intermarine, ATL, and Navicon. Cargo solicitation, booking and subsequent traffic, documentation, and billing functions are handled by each company for their respective bookings. Each customer is free to book on the service via Intermarine, ATL, or Navicon. For more information visit www.wciexpress.com