Ocean shipping line, Zim, earlier this week announced that it was launching a New Zealand to Australia service. That service connects with services to / from China and offers a 15-day transit from Shanghai to Auckland and a 16-day service from Yantian to Auckland.
The service rotation is as follows: Melbourne – Sydney – Auckland – Tauranga – Melbourne.
The maiden call was on 2 April by GSL Africa calling Auckland, Zim said. The 2010-built GSL Africa (IMO: 9473626) is Liberia-flagged with a carrying capacity of 2,450 TEU, a draught of 8.4 metres and a beam of 32.2 metres, according to MarineTraffic.com.
However, Zim said that the service will deploy two vessels of 1,100 TEU (including reefer plugs).
Eli Glickman, ZIM’s President and CEO commented: “We are responding to market demands by rolling out the new New Zealand loop which bolsters the stabilization of our Australia network and supports our expansion into the Australia-New Zealand area… We see great opportunity in the Australia and New Zealand trade.”
