Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced the introduction next month of a new service to the PrimePort of Timaru in New Zealand, the news coming after Maersk Line and Hamburg Sud ceased their combined container services to the port.
MSC’s new Capricorn service will begin October 9 with the arrival of the first vessel MSC Brasilia at Timaru port.
MSC in a statement said that the call is “in line with our strategic objective to continue to improve our services giving a wider regional port coverage to our valued customers.”
Maersk earlier said the withdrawal of their services from PrimePort last September 17 was the result of poor business, according to local media reports.
The Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation of New Zealand (CBAFF) welcomed MSC’s move, saying the Capricorn service would not just reduce the planned layoffs at the port, but also provide importers and exporters a direct weekly connection to Asia and Australia, with links to the United States and Europe.
The planned 50 job cuts following the halt of Maersk and Hamburg Sud’s calls would be reduced to 30, the CBAFF said.
PrimePort chief executive Jeremy Boys said the port still had to make substantial changes to provide a viable container service into the future, The Timaru Herald reported.
“MSC and PrimePort have been working closely in the last month to create this great outcome and we will be seeking support from our exporters to match this commitment,” he was quoted by the paper.
The Capricorn service will have a port rotation of Singapore, Jakarta, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Bluff, Port Chalmers, Timaru, Lyttelton, Napier, Tauranga, Brisbane, and back to Singapore.
Photo: PhillipC
