Updated 11.40am - Added video

Importing and exporting goods from Argentina and Brazil is set to become a more straightforward affair, with Malta Freeport Terminals launching a weekly link to the two Latin American nations.

The Sirius Service will call at six Brazilian ports as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina, with eight vessels operated by container ship giants CMA CGM, Maersk Line and Hamburg Sud operating the service.

CMA CGM vessel Magdalena called at the Freeport yesterday, marking the first arrival on the Malta leg of the service. Live refrigerated containers will be available on the service from early December.

Food importers stand to gain enormously from the service, said Malta Freeport CEO Alex Montebello.

"We are investing heavily to increase the number of refrigerated container slots available at our terminals to 1,800 in view of the higher volume we expect to handle," he said.

The CMA CGM Magdalena was the first vessel to operate on the new service. Photo: Malta Freeport Terminals

The Sirius Service will call at Itajai, Itapoa, Itaguai, Rio Grande, Salvador and Santos in Brazil as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Malta Freeport already provides weekly services to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with those services fotrming part of the Freeport's network links to 127 ports worldwide.

This past summer, the Freeport added a weekly service linking major ports in India, Pakistan, the Eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf to Malta.