Maersk Line extends international connections for NZ ports
Maersk Line is to replace its direct service to Europe with a relay service through its Tanjung Pelepas hub in Malaysia, linking to the carrier’s network of services to other continents. Negotiations with Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga regarding which services will call at these ports are yet to be completed. However, Maersk New Zealand’s managing director, Tony Gibson, said that the carrier will continue to serve the nine ports it currently visits, albeit with a different service structure. The carrier’s Asia service, which hubs through Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, will employ four 4,100 TEU vessels on a weekly string, calling at Auckland or Tauranga, Napier and Port Chalmers. The carrier’s US East Coast service, involving nine vessels on a weekly string, will call US East Coast, Auckland/Tauranga, Australia, Auckland/Tauranga, New Plymouth, Timaru, Port Chalmers and back to the US East Coast. Maersk Line will also upgrade its Pacific Islands service to cover more New Zealand ports and act as a feeder for exporters and importers to the carrier’s US East Coast and Tanjung Pelepas services. This feeder service will call Auckland or Tauranga, Lyttelton, Nelson, Wellington, Tauranga or Auckland and then fortnightly to the Pacific Islands. Gibson said that the relay service to Europe through Tanjung Pelepas was expected to maintain the current delivery times as Maersk’s current direct services and, in some instances, could improve times because US documentation rules would no longer apply. Changes to Maersk’s US East Coast services would give New Zealand exporters a choice of two additional ports on the US East Coast through the Panama Canal, as well as linkages to Central and South American markets.
