Shipping companies cut services but consolidate capacity between Brisbane, New Zealand and Asia
Three international shipping companies will reduce services between Brisbane, New Zealand and north-east Asia with immediate effect, sighting a “deteriorating” market.
German shipping giant Hamburg Süd will cut services along with Chinese vessel operator COSCON and Japanese operators Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).
But the changes will not leave exporters stranded, with plans to combine the companies’ services to create a weekly fixed-day service providing extended port service in both Australia and New Zealand.
The new service, set to operate from Auckland, will service New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington, Lyttelton, Napier, Tauranga, Tokyo, Kobe, Busan, Shanghai, Yantian, Hong Kong and Brisbane.
This route will be serviced by six modern 3,000 to 3,500 TEU vessels provided by all four companies, and each will be complete with 500 reefer plugs.
The newly formed consortium will also provide a peak season extra loader program, which it says will ensure all refrigerated trade volumes will be adequately accommodated.