Three container shipping lines will offer a new weekly joint service covering Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
APL, ANL, and Hanjin Shipping will launch on September 1, 2013 the New Zealand-Asia Express (NAX).
The service will operate through a vessel-sharing agreement, with each partner contributing two container ships.
Together the three will allocate a combined capacity of up to 2,200 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units) for every weekly sailing.
The NAX will have a port rotation of Singapore, Port Klang, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Tauranga, Brisbane, and back to Singapore.
A joint media release said the service will include weekly calls from New Zealand to major Southeast Asian ports via Port Klang and Singapore, weekly calls between New Zealand and Brisbane, and weekly calls from Southeast Asia to Brisbane and Sydney.
Also provided by the express are connections through Southeast Asia for the Indian Sub-continent, Middle East, and European destinations.
“The NAX will provide more competitive options to shippers moving dry and reefer cargoes between New Zealand, Australia, Asia and beyond, particularly New Zealand reefer exports destined for key Asian markets,” the partners said.
The NAX will proceed with its first southbound sailing from Singapore on September 2, and the first northbound sailing from Auckland on September 24.
