Short sea shipper adds fuel-efficient container ship
Pacifica Shipping of New Zealand will launch a new coastal container service next month with a vessel that is 40 percent larger than the ship that served the same market previously, according to New Zealand news site Scoop.
The ship, the Spirit of Independence, has a total capacity of 672 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), almost 300 more than the Spirit of Resolution, which went off charter last month after 15 years of operation.
"The new vessel is 40% bigger, faster, and more fuel efficient than its predecessor," said Steve Chapman, Pacifica's chief executive.
"The new ship also offers substantially greater reefer capacity to help meet rising demand for domestic and export transhipment of refrigerated cargoes."
The ship will call at the main Auckland port instead of the Port of Onehunga, and will also make weekly scheduled calls at Lyttelton, Nelson and New Plymouth ports.
Chapman said the short sea shipper offers a better alternative to land-based transportation.
"Nothwithstanding talk of a new Cook Strait ferry terminal, moving goods by sea directly between ports is the safest, cleanest and most energy efficient mode by far," he said.
"Our improved service gives us the ability to grow this business, even in the current environment of subsidised rail and road.
"We believe it will be the forerunner of more coastal vessels over the coming years."
The New Zealand government has been considering building a new sea freight ferry terminal that could reduce ferry crossing times by half an hour, boosting road and rail transportation, the New Zealand Herald reported last month.
