Singapore-headquartered container shipping giant APL today (7 December) announced the launch of its New Zealand Express II (NZ2) service – a new weekly service with direct connection between New Zealand and key North Asian ports.
Commenting on the launch, Tonnie Lim, APL head of intra-Asia trade said: 'APL introduced the new NZ2 service to serve the China-New Zealand market in a direct and more efficient way.
'Compared to transshipment options, the NZ2 service provides our customers with dedicated and faster connectivity between the North Asia and Oceania markets. The direct service will enable businesses to accelerate their products’ speed and access to these markets, as they seize new growth opportunities in the region,” he added.
Designed with five New Zealand port calls and competitive transit times, the new NZ2 service complements APL’s New Zealand Express (NZE) service to strengthen APL’s presence in the Oceania trade lane, APL said.
With the launch of the NZ2 service, APL will offer a comprehensive network of six Oceania services that connect Asia with Australia and New Zealand seamlessly.
The new NZ2 Service will call the ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Kaohsiung, Brisbane, Auckland, Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Napier, Tauranga, Hong Kong and Keelung. Its first sailing will commence from Shanghai on 29 December 2016.
