Auckland back on major shipper's agenda

Italy's Mediterranean Shipping Company is making another bold leap into the New Zealand market.

The family-owned business, led by Gianluigi Aponte, stepped up operations in this country two years ago but bypassed Ports of Auckland.

Yesterday, it said eight vessels would be dedicated to New Zealand in a reshuffle that would cut seven to 12 days off its European service and introduce an Australian service calling at Auckland and other ports weekly.

Mediterranean Shipping is the second biggest container line in the world and has more ships calling in Australia than any other company.

Two years ago, it extended a European service that looped around Australia to Tauranga, Lyttelton and Wellington. That service has been terminated and, instead, six dedicated ships on a new Capricorn Service will go from Tauranga, Lyttelton and Wellington to Brisbane and on to Singapore.

This route to Europe will be seven to 12 days shorter because it will not call at ports all around Australia.

A separate Kiwi Service, with two dedicated vessels, will go between Sydney, Melbourne, Tauranga and Auckland weekly, giving quick access between the two countries.

The company also operates a Wallaby Service jointly with Maersk Sealand to north Asia, served by the Capricorn Service. A Butterfly Service using shared vessels also goes between Sydney, Melbourne, Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Wellington, Nelson and Sydney.

Kevin Clarke, managing director of the company's Australasian operations, said the changes increased the capacity available to exporters by thousands of containers a year.

The vessels on the Capricorn Service could carry up to 1400 standard-sized containers and ships on the Kiwi Service could carry 600 to 700 containers.

Mediterranean Shipping has kept a low profile recently but port operators have said it was doing well. The head office is in Christchurch and it now employs 52 staff here and 300 in Australia.

New Zealand manager Kevin Cooper said the company had a wide client base and volumes had risen 300 per cent in the past two years. He would not disclose the volumes carried.

Mediterranean Shipping has been coming to New Zealand for about seven years and has been in the Australian market for 15 years.

Sandy Gibson, general manager of Ports of Auckland's container terminal business, welcomed the shipping company's move.

"It signals a return to direct port calls at Auckland by MSC [Mediterranean Shipping], who are a major global carrier with established networks."

Bob Walters, of Export New Zealand, said freight costs had been rising so new capacity was welcome but he doubted rates would fall while demand was so strong.