Two key shipping players have revealed that they are to combine their existing Asia-Australia/New Zealand services to combat the deteriorating market situation in the region.
German group Hamburg Süd, with Hapag-Lloyd as a slot charterer, and Cosco Container Lines, with MOL and Maersk Line as slot charterers, have opted to reduce capacities and combine their respective loops to offer a weekly fixed-day service providing greater port coverage.
The new service operates a port rotation of Auckland, New Plymouth, Nelson (fortnightly), Wellington (fortnightly), Lyttelton, Napier, Tauranga, Tokyo, Kobe, Busan, Shanghai, Yantian, Hong Kong, Brisbane and Auckland.
As part of the rotation, six vessels of 3,000 TEU-3,500 TEU will be deployed, all featuring 500 reefer plugs to cater for increased customer demand.
Additionally, the partners of the new consortium are committing to a peak-season extra loader programme which will ensure that all refrigerated trade volumes are adequately accommodated.
