New Zealand’s high demand for coastal shipping is bringing new opportunities to PrimePort Timaru with a new vessel stopping in September, and another servicing more than 50 South Canterbury importers, exporters and freight forwarders.
Pacifica shipping’s new vessel is scheduled to stop in Timaru from September 29, which means there will be three coastal shipping vessels calling each fortnight, with the Maersk Nadi and Maersk Nansha coming through since July.
PrimePort Timaru chief executive officer, Phil Melhopt said having this number of ships passing through at this frequency is “great news”.
“It’s great news for the port and for the local importers and exporters who use it,” Melhopt said.
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“It just gives local importers and exporters more choice when it comes to transhipping to different parts of the country.
“Between the Maesrk and Pacifica, we will have three coastal vessels.
The Maersk Coastal Connect – Nadi and Nansha – began on July 12 and since then they
have transported 3000 TEU (20-foot equivalent units) of import and export cargo.
Therese Blank, head of market for Maersk Oceania, said using coastal shipping, as opposed to road transport for freight, was more sustainable and had fewer emissions, lower supply chain costs and these ships had a larger capacity.
“Sea freight remains cost competitive compared to landside transport modes such as rail and truck.
“The Maersk Coastal Connect service contributes to reducing transportation cost, improving competitiveness of export products from Timaru, while ensuring consumer goods and building materials are transported into the region as cost effectively as possible,” Blank says.
“Ocean transport remains the most sustainable mode of transport, when comparing the emission when transporting of a 20ft container from Auckland to Timaru a truck move result in 450% higher omissions than a Sea+Truck move.”
Additionally, Pacifica Shipping, an operating division of Singapore based Swire Shipping, has had a coastal shipping service in operation around Aotearoa since 2019 and have upgraded their service to include Timaru.
The service previously consisted of the MV Moana Chief, a 1700 TEU ship, which has been stopping in the ports of Auckland, Lyttelton, Nelson and Tauranga. The new vessel, the MV Takutai Chief, is scheduled to make its first Timaru call on September 29.
Swire Shipping corporate communications manager, Stella Choo, said New Zealand’s domestic transport is forecasted to grow substantially over the next two decades, which is why they’ve introduced a new vessel.
“Pacifica Shipping is bringing in a second coastal vessel to help meet that demand,” Choo said.
“Two vessels running on the coast in tandem will allow us to increase the frequency and capacity of our inter-island domestic freight service, as well as international transshipment cargo demand.”
“Timaru is a new port call in Pacifica Shipping’s coastal network. The port was not serviced by MV Moana Chief. With MV Takutai Chief in the fleet, we will now call at Timaru’s port once every two weeks.”
The MV Takutai Chief will also be stopping in Auckland, Lyttleton, Marsden Point and Tauranga.
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