Maersk, the world's second-largest container shipping line, is a frequent caller to New Zealand.
Shipping giant Maersk will introduce a new container vessel service to New Zealand next month, saying it will provide faster and more direct connections between this country’s export ports and Australia and Greater China.
The new Northern Star service will provide direct coverage to and from the ports of Auckland, Nelson, Timaru, Port Chalmers, Napier and Tauranga, and connect with Maersk’s global network through its main hubs at Port Chalmers, Tauranga, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
My Therese Blank, Maersk’s regional head of market, Oceania, said the service will enable improved network flexibility with multiple connections across the Maersk service network, and is part of an Asia-Oceania network upgrade.
The Northern Star service will operate eight vessels with 2500-TEU (20ft-equivalent) capacity and be fully operated by Maersk. Transit times start from 15 days between Tauranga to Shanghai, offering a premium connection to New Zealand’s largest export and import market, Greater China, she said.
The first sailing, by the vessel Maersk Innoshima, will depart Shanghai on October 21 with a full route rotation. The new service will replace the current Triple Star service between Tauranga and China, Blank said.
Among other changes announced by Maersk today, its Southern Star service between New Zealand and Southeast Asia is to get a new rotation: Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia)-Singapore-Sydney-Tauranga-Lyttelton-Port Chalmers.
David Ross, chief executive of Kotahi, New Zealand’s largest supply chain collaboration, said Maersk’s Oceania to Asia performance was 18.5% higher than the market average and the new network would enable Kotahi to maintain and improve schedule reliability.
Kotahi and Maersk have a partnership.
“The two-string direct service model improves service connections on the New Zealand coast, which has been problematic with current levels of global disruption. With less pressure on transshipping at New Zealand ports, there should be less challenges with connectivity, and we’ll expect improved reliability for cargo out of regional ports like Nelson and Timaru,” Ross said.
Maersk said the removal of Napier from the revised Southern Star service by 5900-TEU container vessels would allow for a greater schedule buffer, enhance reliability and consistency to strengthen the overall customer supply chain, Blank said. But Napier had been added to the new Northern Star service, providing direct access for New Zealand exporters and importers to Tauranga and Greater China.
The upgrade would maintain “seamless” connections with the Northern Star, J Star, OC1 and PANZ services at both Tauranga and Port Chalmers.
The first sailing in the new rotation by the vessel Maersk Rio Bravo will depart Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas port on November 3.
With the launch of the Northern Star service, Maersk will decommission its intra-Oceania service Polaris, and the Triple Star service connecting New Zealand with greater China, Blank said.
The Northern Star service will replace the Triple Star offering, with the route between Melbourne and New Zealand to be covered by Maersk’s existing PANZ and OC1 services, offering two weekly connections between New Zealand and Australia.
“This change is designed to meet current market demand while also supporting future growth opportunities,” the shipping line said in an advisory to customers today.
The last Triple Star sailing from Tauranga will be on November 20 and the last Polaris sailing on November 6 from Auckland.
Kotahi chief executive David Ross told the Herald that at a time of continuing global supply chain disruption and while New Zealand was still building port resilience, it had been important to work closely with Maersk on a more resilient export network.
“Overall, the new network delivers New Zealand exporters a more resilient, stable network, with improved transit times to some key Asia markets, that will allow Maersk to continue to outperform the market average for shipping service reliability ex-New Zealand,” he said.
“The larger vessels [used on the services to be decommissioned] have served us well over the last eight years and have been successful for New Zealand exporters. At a time when supply chain disruption continues, our focus is now on striving for improved service reliability.”
Maersk and Kotahi recently extended and expanded their partnership.
Ross said the expansion positioned Kotahi uniquely to facilitate the introduction of green fuel shipping options to New Zealand in the future, when the time was right.
Andrea Fox joined the Herald as a senior business journalist in 2018 and specialises in writing about the $26 billion dairy industry, agribusiness, exporting and the logistics sector and supply chains.