The new service will start on Saturday using the vessel Sirius Star to relocate containers to the main South Island export ports to improve availability as the export season for perishable goods ramps up.
Kotahi chief executive David Ross says the new service will be a boost for exporters.
“The new Sirius Star service, operating between NZ and Fiji, sees the introduction of several port calls in NZ,” Ross said.
“These NZ port calls help improve the connection of cargo to other larger export ships, and from a number of locations reduces the overall transit time for our export cargo to market.
“This new service also provides another option to distribute containers throughout New Zealand, particularly from North to South Island, which is helpful given the level of supply chain disruptions we are currently facing.”
The Maersk statement says the new service will accelerate the distribution of exports.
“The new service brings additional benefits and enables an improved transit time to key markets in Europe, South East Asia, Middle East and West Central Asia with transit time improvements for NZ exporters of up to 10 days,” the shipping line announced in a statement.
Container availability and shipping delays caused by port congestion around the world, is creating delays for exporters with vessels trying to berth at Auckland waiting 10 to 11 days.
Ships have been bypassing ports to catch up on schedules, while delays in clearing containers has disrupted the returning of empty containers to exporters for refilling.
“In order to continue to enable trade between Auckland and the world, Maersk has been making adjustments to its New Zealand network to reduce the significant impact on vessel schedules and delays following the congestion at Ports of Auckland,” the statement said.
To alleviate that pressure the shipping line has halved the number of calls by its vessels at the Ports of Auckland and is discharging at the Port of Tauranga, with cargo being railed to Auckland Metroport.
As part of that, from Saturday Maersk will launch the new Sirius Star service to assist the positioning of empty containers from Auckland to the South Island.
