Port Manatee recently extended its agreement with Palmetto's World Direct Shipping to maintain weekly service between the port and the Mexican state of Veracruz for up to five more years. World Direct Shipping has committed to bring refrigerated produce and other goods into Port Manatee from the Port of Coatzacoalcos through the end of 2019, with a pair of one-year options extending through the end of 2021. World Direct Shipping has moved nearly 300,000 tons of cargo through Port Manatee since November 2014.