In Anno 1404, is there any way to automate swapping resources between settlements?

When I play Continuous Game mode, I always end up with the situation of needing some resource that I can't harvest from my initial settlement island. So, I settle on a new island that has those resources, but then I'm stuck manually moving the stuff from one settlement onto my ship and vice versa. Seems like there should be a way to automate this, but does anyone know how? Thanks!

Solution 1:

You should go in the overview map (bottom right, the star, or F6). There, you can create a commercial road (to right). Click on each cities you want to have on your road, then select a vessel and resources to trade (+ to load resources on the vessel, - to unload them).

You can have as much cities as you want, but only 6 resources by step. It should then exchange your resources automatically.